Dance regalia is priceless art handcrafted over many years

POW WOW: Dressed in Northern Traditional attire, Tony Baga, of Tachi-Tule Yokuts tribe, traveled from Lemoore, Calif. to dance at the Stillwater Pow Wow.

The regalia worn by the men and women at the Stillwater Pow Wow each year is not only stunning in its intricacy, it is an art form.

The attention to detail for each piece depends on which dance the person will be performing, the amount of time they have before the pow wow, how fancy they would like it and the skill set of the person creating the regalia.

Many start out with something simple and then create more elaborate pieces as time allows or as their skill set improves.

There are three different dances for both men and women and each dance has its own specifications for the type of regalia to be worn. The dances women perform are: traditional, fancy and jingle. The dances for the men are: traditional, fancy and grass.

In the traditional form, there are also two styles - northern traditional and southern traditional. The difference between the two is the music and how the regalia is made. Men also have another style within the traditional dance form that is called the chicken dance.

Men's traditional regalia generally takes longer to make than women's traditional regalia because of the eagle feathers, deer hide and deer bones that are used to create it. These items are collected over time either as a gift or as found materials.

According to Daniele Bruster, a member of the Wintu tribe and a dance instructor for the tribe, most boys start out with hawk feathers until they learn how to dance and have respect for what they have. Once they have demonstrated their skill in dance and have shown respect, someone will present them with an eagle feather, which is a treasured item in the Wintu culture due to its status and power.

"(The regalia) is more modern now with fabric being more readily available. I started with a turkey feather fan because I needed to learn to dace and respect what I had and my regalia was made with imitation buckskin. Then, when I was 10, my uncle gave me a hawk feather fan. Later, I was given an eagle feather fan," said Bruster.

There are people who choose to bead their regalia because it is considered more traditional and it takes them a year or longer. Those who are not as skilled in the art of beading generally make hair ties out of fabric or ribbon, while the more experienced beaders can bead their hair ties, moccasins, tops and leggings.

Women's traditional uses buckskin and add different accessories, like beads and shells, to make it more fancy. The regalia for jingle is made out of cloth and Copenhagen wood is used to make the jingles.

"Making regalia like this can be time-consuming depending on how many jingles you need to add and if they are already twisted or not. If they're not twisted, then you have to twist them before they can be put on. It is time consuming," said Bruster.

There are 365 jingles to represent each day of the year. However this can become quite heavy, so using less jingles is allowed and is dependant on the woman's taste and how she would like her regalia to look.

Fancy dance for women can be made out of many types of fabric, and this can take a while to create depending on the intricacy of the creator and their vision for the piece. There is usually a big shawl to go over the shoulders because the dance is meant to represent a butterfly.

According to Bruster, everyone gets to choose their own colors for their regalia, what they would like to add to it, and the patterns they would like to put on it.

"Some might chose to put the symbol of their tribe on their regalia, so in that respect it's a lot like art because no one's is ever the same and it can't be duplicated," said Bruster of each member's regalia.

The fancy dance for the men includes two bustles made out of feathers and sticks. Both are placed on the back one above the other and they are made out of turkey feather, hackles, and the colorful manufactured feathers, not many of the dances have eagle feather so they are seldom used. Great quantities of ribbon are also used for this regalia.

For men's traditional regalia it can be made out of buckskin, deer hide, deer hooves, otter fur, eagle and hawk feathers, beadwork, and even wolf fur. The regalia for the grass dance is made out of yarn and fabric and can include ribbon, feathers, beadwork, and beaded accessories.

"Whenever the pow wow begins, the grass dancers go out and perform their dance by pressing down the grass in a circle for everyone to dance on," said Bruster.