Anishinaabekwe to be inducted into Canadian Dance Hall of Fame

By Sam Laskaris

WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY – Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane has been rather emotional lately as the member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory is days away from being inducted into a national hall of fame for her lengthy advocacy of Indigenous dancing.

Pheasant-Neganigwane will be inducted into the Canadian Dance Hall of Fame by Dance Collection Danse (DCD) this coming Sunday, Nov. 5, at a ceremony in Toronto.

The event will be held at the Palais Royale in Toronto.

Pheasant-Neganigwane, who now lives in Lethbridge, Alta., was notified this past spring about her upcoming induction.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I was not aware that we had a Canadian dance hall of fame.”

Pheasant-Neganigwane, a Jingle Dress dancer, is even more thrilled that she is being honoured for her Indigenous dancing.

“I have been on the verge of tears,” she said. “I’ve been thinking of the journey we have done as Indigenous people.”

This journey including the Indian Act banning Indigenous dancing in Canada up until 1951; those performing Indigenous dances were threatened with incarceration.

Besides being a dancer, Pheasant-Neganigwane also wrote a book titled Powwow: A Celebration through Song and Dance.

She was presented with the Norma Fleck Award for writing the Best Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction Book in 2021.

The book, aimed at school students, details the historical and cultural significance of pow wows. Readers learn about colonization and the harmful impacts on Indigenous people.

Though she lives in Lethbridge, Pheasant-Neganigwane is currently an assistant professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary and teaches in the Department of General Education as well as Indigenous studies with the Department of Humanities.

Amy Bowring, the executive and curatorial director for DCD, said Pheasant-Neganiwane is a deserving recipient of her hall of fame accolade.

“Karen quite literally wrote the book on pow wow,” Bowring said. “Her work to ensure that current and future generations understand the history of pow wow dances and the key elements of each dance is and will continue to be so important in our awareness of the dances of Indigenous peoples.”

Pheasant-Neganiwane will be joined by numerous family members and friends at Sunday’s induction ceremony, which will celebrate her lifetime of work of promoting Indigenous dance and culture across the country.

“Long before the word ‘reconciliation’ was on the lips of Canadians, Karen was doing the work to recover, promote, and celebrate the dances of Indigenous peoples,” Bowring said. “And the writing, teaching, and dancing that Karen has dedicated her life to is a legacy to be proud of. The actions of the Canadian state have robbed generations of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and settlers of the chance to know and celebrate the cultures of so many nations of people across this land. Karen’s work is one more step in reversing that loss.”

Pheasant-Neganigwane is one of six inductees into the hall of fame this year. Other award winners and trailblazers will also be recognized at the ceremony.

DCD, which was founded in 1986, is a national arts organization that provides various programming.

This year marks the fifth year for its hall of fame inductions.