Art Heals-The Jingle Dress Project
Please join "Art Heals- The Jingle Dress Project" at the Tongass Historical Museum on Tuesday, August 9 at 6:00 p.m. for a presentation, video, dance, and Q&A. Free and open to all.
The Jingle Dress Project originated from photographer Eugene Tapahe's dream to unite the beauty of the land and the healing power of the jingle dance during the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The origin of the jingle dance to the Ojibwe people happened during the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. It came as a dream to a father whose daughter was sick with the virus. His dream revealed the new dress and dance that had the power to heal. When the dresses were made, they were given to four women to perform the dance. When the little girl heard the sound of the jingles, she became stronger. By the end of the night she was dancing too.
The goal of the Jingle Dress Project is to take this healing power to the land, to travel and capture a series of images that will document spiritual places where our ancestors once walked. Eugene Tapahe and dancers Erin Tapahe, Dion Tapahe, Sunni Begay, and JoAnni Begay will be in Ketchikan in early August to unite and give hope to the world through art, dance, and culture to help us heal together.