{"id":96645,"date":"2026-07-27T20:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T23:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/keeping-tradition-alivekathyshuckahosee-shares-the-meaning-behind-northern-traditional-dance\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T20:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T23:16:26","slug":"keeping-tradition-alivekathyshuckahosee-shares-the-meaning-behind-northern-traditional-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/keeping-tradition-alivekathyshuckahosee-shares-the-meaning-behind-northern-traditional-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Tradition Alive:KathyShuckahosee Shares the Meaning Behind Northern Traditional Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The Shuckahosee family in their Northern Traditional Regalia. Photo supplied.   by CheviRabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (ANNews) \u2013 ForKathyShuckahosee, dancing is more than movement. It is a connection to family, culture, community, and generations of tradition. Originally from Tama, Iowa, Shuckahosee is a Northern Traditional dancer who carries her cultural teachings into the powwow arena. While visiting Ermineskin Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alberta, she shared how dance has shaped her life and why it remains an important responsibility to continue passing traditions forward. Northern Traditional dancing is one of the oldest styles found within powwow traditions, known for its grace, precision, and storytelling through movement. \u201cIt is one of the oldest styles of all tribes,\u201d Shuckahosee said. \u201cAnd it is elegant and graceful.\u201d KathyShuckahosee (on the right) in her Northern Traditional Regalia pictured with a Jingle Dress Dancer. For Shuckahosee, being part of the powwow community provides a strong connection to family and others who share the same way of life. \u201cBeing part of the powwow community is very meaningful,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun bonding with family and with other powwow families.\u201d She described powwow culture as more than an event. It is a positive way of life. Dance has impacted every part of her life. \u201cIt impacts my life spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally,\u201d Shuckahosee said. \u201cIt reinforces our culture and also keeps you active. It\u2019s like a sport, so you have to stay active and keep your body healthy.\u201d She also believes dancers carry a responsibility when they enter the powwow arena, especially as role models for younger generations. \u201cThe responsibility is being a positive role model for young people,\u201d she said. Shuckahosee encourages people who have stepped away from the powwow circle to rejoin the community. For her, the circle represents the heart of the powwow. \u201cThe circle is the arena, the powwow circle, [it\u2019s] all the singing and all the dancing that we do at each powwow, at each session,\u201d she explained. She encourages young Indigenous people interested in dancing to take that first step and seek support from their communities. \u201cThey just need to get out there and dance,\u201d Shuckahosee said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of their bloodline.\u201d She added that young dancers do not have to begin their journey alone. \u201cIf they need help with an outfit, there\u2019s somebody that can always help them if they don\u2019t have one,\u201d she said. \u201cTake classes. There\u2019s always somebody that mentors or somebody in their community that does teach sewing or beadwork making.\u201d Her hope for future generations is simple. \u201cKeep on dancing many generations to come,\u201d she said. \u201cJust keep going and going.\u201d Shuckahosee\u2019s own motivation comes from her family and the connections created through the powwow arena. \u201cWhat keeps me motivated is my family and my children, and living the positive lifestyle of the powwow, dancing, and being in the powwow arena,\u201d she said. \u201cThe feelings of being in the powwow arena, in the circle, are very good.\u201d Over the years, her dancing journey has continued to evolve through practice, growth, and dedication. \u201cJust stepping out into the arena, getting out there, improving different parts of my outfit, and improving each year, each season that has passed,\u201d she said. \u201cJust improving and keep showing up.\u201d Her regalia reflects her identity and connection to tradition. She wears a Northern Traditional applique style outfit, including a Meskwaki traditional outfit featuring an applique skirt with mirror images on the front panels. \u201cMy outfit is the Northern Traditional applique style,\u201d Shuckahosee said. \u201cI have the Meskwaki traditional outfit. It\u2019s the applique skirt that has the mirror images on the front panels and the panels around.\u201d Her regalia also includes a ribbon shirt, bone necklaces, scarves, Meskwaki style moccasins, a headband, and silverwork. Beyond her own dancing, Shuckahosee travels throughout the United States and Canada to help her children learn about Indigenous cultures and traditions. \u201cThe reason I dance and travel so much around the U.S. and Canada is for my children, to show them the different tribes and what\u2019s all out there,\u201d she said. Her children are also continuing the tradition, with her son dancing Northern Traditional and her daughter participating as a Jingle Dress dancer. As she continues dancing and sharing her story, Shuckahosee hopes people understand that traditional dance is a living practice that connects past, present, and future generations. \u201cIt\u2019s a very important part of our life as Native people,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been passed on for many generations.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s one of the first things that we learn when we\u2019re brought into the world.\u201d Her message is about carrying tradition forward, one step, one song, and one generation at a time. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Shuckahosee family in their Northern Traditional Regalia. Photo supplied. by CheviRabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (ANNews) \u2013 ForKathyShuckahosee, dancing is more than movement. It is a connection to family, culture, community, and generations of tradition. Originally from Tama, Iowa, Shuckahosee is a Northern Traditional dancer who carries her cultural teachings into the powwow arena. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":96646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075,118,1],"tags":[2074,116],"class_list":["post-96645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alberta","category-indigenous","category-uncategorized","tag-alberta","tag-indigenous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}