Traditional dance helped woman reconnect with Indigenous heritage – Collingwood News
Sharon Rigby will be performing at the Collingwood change of seasons ceremony on Sept. 24, and will be sharing more about traditional dance and the regalia she has made
Walking into a powwow as a traditional dancer and part of the grand entry for the first time while clad in regalia she made herself, Sharon Rigby lived what she calls the most momentous occasion of her life.
Her mother and family were there to watch, and Rigby felt her small steps take her back to a culture and way of life taken from her family. They are steps she will continue to take as she performs traditional dance at the Collingwood change of seasons gathering later this month.
“Traditional women would dance along the outside of the powwow, they took their spots along the edges, and I feel like traditional dancing is very much a representation of how I felt as a child growing up,” said the mother of five. “I was not really participating in my culture, and not really aware of the full extent of my heritage. But when the traditional women were invited into the powwow to dance, I feel that’s my reconnection right there. Going from the outside in.”
