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Sudbury Star Article, Friday, July 1, 2005
Hoop Dancing – A Manitoulin tradition

Throughout the years, Gordie Odjig has taught some 50 or more youngsters the intricate art of hoop dancing and more importantly, the life teachings that accompany the dance.

Birds chirp and a breeze blows gently through the trees as we listen attentively to the beat of the powwow music and the low voice of our hoop dance instructor Gordie Odjig. With two flexible plastic hoops across our chest and one around our necks we draw our arms through the gaps and catching the two crossed hoops draw our arms wide to create the form of a little bird. The Chickadee! I imagine those chirping birds as our cheerleaders celebrating our first tentative hoop dance creations. I congratulate my compatriots – many of them grandmothers and aunties who have come to experience a little taste of what hoop dancing is all about.

Hoop dancing – dazzling, intricate, athletic. Physical conditioning, years of watchful study and practice, ever more practice, are the ingredients from which champions are made. Gordie Odjig, an Odawa from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve knows the path of the hoop dance champion, having trained his niece Lisa Odjig, a two time world champion in the art as well as many other young hopefuls. In 2000, Lisa was the first woman to win the elite and highly contested World Championship of Hoop Dancing held at the prestigious Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. With a second championship in 2003 she cemented her place in history as a two time winner and first female to prevail in this typically male dominated discipline. At the same time, she put Manitoulin and the community of Wikwemikong on the international map. A hidden piece of heaven, Wikwemikong has garnered renewed fascination by international visitors and curious Canadians alike, all looking for the elusive ingredients that make Wiky (as it is affectionately known by local First Nations people) a hotbed of Anishnaabe artistry, culture, language and tradition.

Count hoop dancing as one of those ingredients. A chickadee; clouds on the horizon; an eagle in flight; one after another, images of creation appear as flowers, butterflies, the stars, the Sun and the Moon. The hoops represent unity and the various formations, the interconnectedness of all races of mankind and all of creation.

The hoop dance which originated in Taoes Pueblo in New Mexico has gained widespread popularity across North America at powwows, festivals and special events. The hoop dance is symbolic of the circle of life – the never ending cycle of constant renewal. With as few as 4 and as many as 50, dancers create designs reflecting animals, winged creatures, the globe and numerous other formations limited only by their imagination.

A hoop dancer must exercise precision, showmanship, timing, rhythm, creativity and speed as he or she weaves her body in and out of the hoops in time with the fast beat of the drum. All of which requires a commitment to countless hours of instruction and practice. Over the years, many young dancers from Manitoulin have taken up the challenge, inspired by Lisa Odjig's example and under the quiet tutelage of Gordie Odjig.

Humble and unassuming, Gordie is a man of many talents. A renowned Men's Fancy dancer, an technician in the audio visual arts, an entrepreneur and cultural resource person, Gordie provides the link between the past – when the local Aboriginal culture and powwows as we know them today were reborn and the future – dancers as young as 5 and 6 hungry to take up the challenge of competition and carry on the dance traditions demonstrating the hoop dance at local powwows, schools and events.

Throughout the years, he has taught some 50 or more youngsters the intricate art of hoop dancing and more importantly, the life teachings that accompany the dance. Our group, on a tour to visit local businesses and tourism experiences in Wiky, appreciate the talents, Gordie brings as a dancer and cultural resource person. A patient teacher, Gordie animates his lessons with stories and jokes from the powwow trail.

Over the next few weeks, on Friday afternoons in July and August, Gordie will provide Hoop Dance instruction and teachings at his beach and family campgrounds set on the beautiful Wikwemikong Bay. The sessions will take place at Endye-Inn B& B and Family Campgrounds from 1 pm to 3:30 pm in Wiky. You can reach Gordie at (705) 859-2955.

If you are interested in other cultural activities in and around Manitoulin and Sagamok, on the North Shore, The Great Spirit Circle Trail (www.circletrail.com) has planned an exciting schedule of daily activities throughout the months of July and August. Bannock making over an open fire, nature walks, silkscreen and graphic design tours, craft making and much more are on the agenda to engage all ages and interests. Call 1-877-710-3211 for the full brochure and schedule information.

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