Jingle dress children’s book shows dance is prayer

Author found solace during pandemic by watching healing dances online

By Sandra Hale Schulman Special to ICT

The power of the Jingle Dress Dance with its bright colors and joyful sounds of jingles parades through “Why We Dance,” the forthcoming children’s book by Saddle Lake Cree author Deidre Havrelock and illustrator Aly McKnight, Shoshone-Bannock.

The book, which is due out in the fall of 2023, is an exuberant story about history, joy and the healing power of the dance through such preparations as checking the regalia, getting dressed, braiding hair, packing lunches for long days and practicing the steps.

Havrelock said she learned along the way as she was writing.

“I was praying all through the journey of writing this book,” Havrelock told ICT recently. “I was praying for understanding, praying for direction, praying to meet the right people, praying to get the words right. What I learned and what I hope others take away from this book is that the jingle dress has a history traceable to a specific region and people. It’s important to honor not only that history but also the people who today continue to hold that history as Knowledge Keepers.”

She also learned it meant something deeper.

“I also learned that our traditional dancing truly is prayer,” she said. “I had many questions about prayer during the writing of this book, and I was using a lot of words to convey my thoughts to Creator like, ‘What should I specifically be praying for when I dance?’ Or, ‘What words should I use?’

“And then, in a dream, I heard this from Creator: “The dance is the prayer,’ and I fully understand the language.”

Havrelock said that was the push she needed.

“That shut me up and brought me into alignment,” she said. “ And so, what I really would like readers, especially non-Indigenous readers, to take away from this book, is that prayer takes many forms. And Native American traditional dance is a legitimate and beautiful expression of prayer. More dance, less words.”

The book is being published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, which specializes in picture books and illustrated nonfiction for preschool through middle-grade readers. It is one of several books Havrelock is writing that are set to be published in the next 18 months.

Other upcoming books from Havrelock include the picture books, “Buffalo: The Enduring Story of Buffalo and the First Peoples of North America,” from Holiday House this summer, and “The Heartbeat Drum,” from Abrams in the fall of 2024.

She is also writing a nonfiction book for middle-grade students about Indigenous ingenuity, co-authored with Edward Kay, that is expected to be released this spring from Little, Brown and Company. She has also previously written several books about faith.

Power of dance

The Jingle Dress Dance has a fascinating history told in various ways in the U.S. and Canada about a dream an elder had to heal a sick child in the early 1900s.

The dream said to make a dress with rattling jingles for healing. The jingles are typically rolled tin-can lids, often stamped with the can company’s name,

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