Join us on Sunday, April 15 to enjoy and learn about the importance of the Native Grass Dance, as well as the Grass Dance regalia on loan and on exhibit in the Spurlock Museum. Trickster Art Gallery, the only Native-owned and operated art institution in the state of Illinois, and World Champion Native Pride Dancers, founded by Larry Yazzie, will present a cultural education program on the University of Illinois campus, in partnership with Native American House and Spurlock Museum. “There will even be a time for everyone to join in and better understand the feeling of the heartbeat of our people—the power of the drum,” says Joe Polasek (LCO-Ojibwe/Polish), owner of Trickster Art Gallery.

Originating in Northern Plains tribes such as the Dakota-Sioux and Omaha-Ponca, the Grass Dance is a Native traditional art. Regalia and performance evoke swaying plants in the grasslands wind and honors the importance of this natural resource as fuel and insulation.

Image: Larry Yazzie sharing the Eagle Dance for our veterans and community at the Smithsonian. Courtesy of Joe Podlasek.