A six-years-old is sending healing vibes to all those affected by COVID-19 through the traditional Squamish Nation dance and prayer.
Sariah Jacobs-Greene’s video of the traditional jingle dress dance offering prayers for COVID-19 patients has been shared and watched on social media.
The jingle dress dance is a healing dance which originated from the Ojibway people (Mille Lacs, Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the Whitefish Bay Ojibwe) of the Great Lakes.
The prayer which is offered comes from the dancer’s spirit, says Sariah’s mother, Shayla R Jacobs.
Sariah has been doing the traditional jingle dress since the age of two, but last week, her dance was a call to the Creator to heal those who are sick with COVID-19.
While Sariah is dancing, her feet move in time with the drum, kicking her heels and bouncing lightly on her toes. She holds an eagle feather fan and raises it in the air to receive healing to help others and to honour the Creator, Jacobs says.
🔊ON
😍Shayla R Jacobs: My 6y/o daughter Sariah Rena Anne, #Squamish Nation. As a #jingle dress dancer, she is going 2 do a🙏🏾#prayer dance 4 the #covid sickness 2 pas! 2 help heal the🌎world & what it’s going thru right now 🙏🏾#prayers 2 each individual out there 2day. Huy chexw❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZBQKVfbUXK— Haida Princess (Lori) (@HaidaPrincess) March 26, 2020
The dance is named after the dress that jingles. Sariah is wearing a dress with metal cones. Each cone represents a prayer, says Jacobs. The rows of cones are usually from the lids of chewing tobacco cans and make a pleasant sound.
Jacobs says the idea of a healing dance in the time of the epidemic came from Liz Salway of the Wind River reservation in Fort Washakie in Wyoming state of the United States.
On March 17, Salway invited all jingle dress dancers to dance in their yards and pray for those who are sick or disabled. Salway’s call has inspired many traditional dancers to dance and pray for COVID-19 patients.
Jacobs says jingle dress dance originated in the 1900s and spread across all Indigenous nations in North America. It is commonly seen at powwows, the traditional gathering to celebrate indigenous culture.
Sarah has been dancing at the powwows since she was two.
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