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4.12: Virtual Field Trip: Indigenous Dances of North and South America

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    Virtual Field Trip: Indigenous Dances of North and South America

    Music and dance have always been essential to the spiritual, cultural, and social lives of Native peoples. Unique forms of ritual, ceremonial, and social dancing remain a vital part of contemporary community life. Everywhere dance is found, it is accompanied by distinctive Native musical styles. Rich music and dance traditions create strong ties that bind American Indian communities to all living things, to the earth, spirit world, and—when people have deep ancestral claims to their dances—to the past. (National Museum of the American Indian: Circle of Dance) Woman in a blue feathered Aztek Headdress. A photograph of four men in Indian regalia at a powwow. Cartoon of a stereotyped Indian.Man in feathered Indian regalia dances.

    Your Field Guide

    Start Here

    Use the suggested websites below to get a broad view of your desitnation, or select another scholarly resource to get started:

    • Website: Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian: Circle of Dance
      Circle of Dance presents Native dance as a vibrant, meaningful, and diverse form of cultural expression. Featuring ten social and ceremonial dances from throughout the Americas, the exhibition illuminates the significance of each dance and highlights the unique characteristics of its movements and music.
    • Article: An Evolving Ritual, Smithsonian,
      The National Powwow showcases a mixture of tradition and competition.

    Pow Wow

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