Amid the current chaotic political environment, one might feel like everything is falling apart. However, it’s important to remember that the current situation isn’t something that someone must weather alone and that there are people who are willing to fight and support one another. Recently, Native American dancers held a jingle dress healing ceremony at the memorials of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The main organizer for this event is Star Ishkode Downwind, who has also held a similar jingle dress ceremony for George Floyd. A crowd of Minnesota residents watched as the jingle dancers performed in South Minneapolis, wearing ribbon skirts and regalia. In the video, you could see them dancing and singing, accompanied by the sound of drums.
In another clip, you could hear a woman delivering a speech saying that the Native jingle dancers would be there for people in times of suffering and those who suffer injustice, and that their race doesn’t matter because everyone is connected. Another woman delivered another speech, this one addressing more about Alex Pretti and Renee Good. The video continued with more dancing and singing by the Native people, who continued to commemorate the unjustified deaths in Minnesota.
It wasn’t just the people of Minnesota who were touched by the gesture of the Native jingle dancers, as the internet also praised them for their show of support. “Wow, this is so uplifting, the way culture and healing come together here really gave me a smile today,” one user wrote.
Others remarked that this just showed that people should stop trying to divide each other based on skin color or other things, as we’re all humans. That working together was always better than tearing each other apart. “A gathering of many different people, sharing with each other and enjoying everyone’s company… like the way this country is supposed to be. Not some boring homogeneous regurgitation of archaic ways that just don’t fit in a modern world,” one commenter wrote.
Some users, however, found it ironic how the Natives were showing more solidarity for Minnesota people than the current government, which critics argued were more busy lying and slandering the two victims. “So they showed respect and care for the dead… more than the American government did. You guys are broken at the moment,” one Redditor commented.
Others expressed concerns for the Native people in Minnesota, afraid that ICE agents would also target them just because they had darker skin color. “They literally did pick up a Native American man at one point. You see, his skin was not white, so it was very suspicious behavior,” one user wrote.
