Video: Jones Benally Family Dancers: Navajo Traditional Dance
This video from the Library of Congress spotlights The Jones Benally Family Dancers as they demonstrate Navajo dances for a public audience. They are representatives of the Navajo Nation, and…
This video from the Library of Congress spotlights The Jones Benally Family Dancers as they demonstrate Navajo dances for a public audience. They are representatives of the Navajo Nation, and between musical performances, they also share traditions and stories of their heritage. One of the highlights of their demonstration is hoop dancing, as shown by Jones Benally himself.
Hoop dancing is a widespread practice among many Native American tribes of Western North America. The dance can be both a performance art or a ritual tradition, depending on where and how it is performed. Though usually performed individually, it can also be held a group dance. Typically, a hoop dancer works with more than one hoop, sometimes up to 28 total. Dancers create symbolic shapes and movements with the hoops and their body, with different forms emerging among different dancers and nations. The hoops, often handmade, represent the cycle of nature, renewal, and the complex interactions between life.
The Library of Congress offers this biographical information about The Jones Benally Family Dancers.
- Jones Benally is a respected elder of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. His skill as a hoop dancer has won him worldwide acclaim and multiple world champion titles as well as the first Heard Museum Hoop Dance Legacy Award. Jones was featured as a singer in the 1993 film "Geronimo." He works as a traditional healer, and was among the first traditional medical practitioners to be employed by a Western medical facility, where he worked for nearly 20 years. He is also recognized by the state of Arizona as an Arizona Indian Living Treasure.
- Jeneda Benally has performed with her father for over three decades, and has also made her mark (along with brothers Klee and Clayson) as the Native American Music Award-winning "alter-Native" punk band Blackfire. The siblings' newest project is the duo Sihasin ("hope").
- Clayson Benally has performed with his father for over three decades, and has also made his mark (along with brother Klee and sister Jeneda) as the Native American Music Award-winning "alter-Native" punk band Blackfire. The siblings' newest project is the duo Sihasin ("hope").
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