South
Turn clockwise to the right, to the trio of pillars that includes more red colors. If you visit in the afternoon, you’ll see that the red pillars catch the sunlight more than any others. That’s purposeful: this group represents midday. It also corresponds to the second life stage (youth), south, and summer. Everything is in bloom. There’s an eagle now in its adult stage next to the Ojibwe floral illustrations that incorporate plant medicines in all four groups of pillars.
Near the water next to the birch tree, there’s now a dancer wearing a traditional fancy shawl and lifting her arms, illustrating this energetic life stage. “We come into the youth, which is the fancy dance,” Beaulieu says. “It’s a fast dance that represents the butterfly and how they move as they bounce around and pollinate. My grandmother taught me to fancy dance, and you’ve got to be young because it’s such a fast dance鈥攊t’s really hard.”
Dive Deeper
- Watch: from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
- Watch: by WPSU PBS
- Read: by Autumn Whitefield-Madrano
Reflection Questions
- As a national symbol of the United States, how does learning about the bald eagle鈥檚 symbolism originating from Indigenous communities impact or change your understanding of it?
- What is the significance of dance, drumming, and Powwows in Indigenous communities?
- What is the role of dancing and drumming to preserve Indigenous history and knowledge?
- How are resistance and joy part of the fancy shawl dance and the regalia worn by the dancers?