By Bryan Eneas

On the powwow trail: Men’s Traditional style regalia

Jul 11, 2016 | 7:01 AM

When it comes to traditional style powwow dancing, male dancers wear many unique pieces like busts, head dresses and shields of intricate leather, bead, bone and feather work which takes many hours of careful crafting and patience.

Jerry Shepard is a well-travelled powwow dancer from White Bear, Sask. Dancing from the age of 5, he now travels the world as a traditional style powwow dancer. For the last 12 years he has danced in Germany, Denmark, France, Norway and Sweden.

He said his most significant piece of regalia are the eagle feathers he wears. For each feather Shepard wears, he said he had to work for it.

“I danced as a grass dancer for 27 years, and I told my mom ‘I want to go traditional,’ and she said, ‘not now, not now.’ You can’t just give (eagle feathers) out, you’ve gotta earn them,” Shepard said.

The eagle is so sacred because it is a direct communicator with the Creator, according to Shepard.

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“For every feather we take, we say thank you to the eagle. We leave tobacco on the ground and say thank you, thank you for the feather,” Shepard said.

Each male traditional dancer’s regalia features a head dress. According to Shepard, these pieces traditionally have been made of porcupine hair.

“(Porcupine hair) has been as a hair piece for a long time. Over 200 years or longer. Many years ago it wasn’t dyed, it was just made a certain way. It took a long time to make a head dress,” Shepard said.

Shepard also wears a breast plate made of buffalo bone, which he acquired through his southern travels.

As the powwow season rolls on, Shepard said he plans on attending the North Battleford and Onion Lake powwows next.

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas