Dancing for Our Tribe: Potawatomi Tradition in the New Millennium

Book info: Dancing for Our Tribe: Potawatomi Tradition in the New Millennium (Hardcover, 304 pages) – Shikaakwa Press, 2022. Language: English.

In the heyday of the Anishinaabe Confederacy, the Potawatomis spread across Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Pressured by the westward expansion of the fledgling United States of America, they became the most treatied of any Indian tribe. Forced removals and multiple treaty-era relocations resulted in cultural chaos and an enduring threat to their connections to the ancestors. Despite these hardships, they have managed to maintain (or restore) their rich heritage.   Beginning with Citizen Potawatomi Nation, photographer and Citizen Potawatomi Sharon Hoogstraten visited all nine nations of the scattered Potawatomi tribe to construct a permanent record of present-day Potawatomis wearing the traditional regalia passed down through the generations, modified to reflect the influence and storytelling of contemporary life. While the silver monochrome portraits that captured Native life at the turn of the twentieth century are a priceless record of those times, they contribute to the impression that most Indian tribes exist only as obscure remnants of a dimly remembered past. With more than 150 formal portraits and illuminating handwritten statements, Dancing for Our Tribe portrays the fresh reality of today’s Native descendants and their regalia: people who live in a world of assimilation, sewing machines, polyester fabrics, duct tape, tattoos, favorite sports teams, proud military service, and high-resolution digital cameras.   The Potawatomi nations have merged loss and optimism to reinforce their legacy for generations to come. We learn from the elders the old arts of language, ribbonwork, beading, and quillwork with renewed urgency. Preserving Potawatomi culture, tribal members are translating traditional designs into their own artistic celebration of continuing existence, lighting the path forward for the next seven generations. Dancing for Our Tribe illustrates vividly that in this new millennium, “We Are Still Here.”   Editorial Reviews Review "A simply magnificent coffee-table style volume Dancing for Our Tribe: Potawatomi Tradition in the New Millennium features full page, full color photography of men and women in full and authentic regalia enhancing an impressively informed and informative commentary. A monumental and seminal work of meticulous scholarship, no personal, professional, college or university library Native American Studies collection can be considered comprehensive or complete without a copy of Dancing for Our Tribe: Potawatomi Tradition in the New Millennium on their shelves.”—Midwest Book Review
 

“Over the past decade, Citizen Potawatomi Nation member Sharon Hoogstraten took portraits of Potawatomi people and their relations in their regalia in Oklahoma, Kansas, and around the Great Lakes. Additionally, she collected statements from her subjects. In Dancing for Our Tribe, Hoogstraten offers a print exhibition of those portraits and statements. She has put together a vivid collection.”—Great Plains Quarterly
 

“This is much more than a coffee-table book. While the author eschews the label of artist and prefers storyteller, she is both and more. The powwow regalia beautifully reflect the artistry of the Potawatomi peoples across North America. Her photography is also beautiful, delightful, comforting, and moving. She shares her expertise in photography, which is her profession, and also shares her own ability to listen, inquire, and collect. These skills let her assemble material culture into a work that is about so much more than just regalia, powwows, tradition, innovation, expertise, and experience. It is a remarkable book that allows the reader to gain understanding about individual Potawatomi across North America. We learn who they are; why and how they do what they do; what being Potawatomi and Indigenous means to them; their connections to tradition, family, and mentors, while also expressing their creativity.”—Indiana Magazine of History
 

“Hoogstraten carefully identifies each person we “meet” through her book which is filled with the stories of those she photographs. The photography is rich in color, depth, and light. But what inspired me the most is that the subjects are not just what they are wearing––they are also vibrant human beings. They are happy, joyous, and proud. The author obviously embarked on this project with a passion. That passion becomes a love story within the covers of this book.”—John N. Low Ohio State University, author of Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of Chicago
 

“I’m so grateful for this celebration of our Citizen Potawatomi family. The combination of rich portraits, community life and personal storytelling is a pleasure. Thank you for shining your light on our people.”—Robin Wall Kimmerer author of Gathering Moss, Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry   

“Veterans (warriors), grandmothers, dancers, storytellers, families, generations, seniors and powwow scenes: The individual and group portraits and the dance scenes captivate the viewer through the ceremony of movement and color. In the more than fifty years that I have been active in the field of Native American studies, this publication surprises me as the most impressive photo book I have ever seen.”—Pieter Hovens curator emeritus, National Museum of World Cultures: Leiden - Amsterdam - Rotterdam   

“Through stunning photographs and handwritten personal stories, Sharon Hoogstraten explores how dancers of all the Potawatomi nations have embraced regalia traditions and made them their own. In so doing, she makes real the innovative ways that these men, women and children re-envision traditional ceremonies. This book is invaluable to anyone interested in Potawatomi life; it is also an important contribution to our understanding of ways that traditions evolve and adapt to a changing world.”—Ann Durkin Keating, author of Rising up From Indian Country: The Battle of Fort Dearborn and the Birth of Chicago
 

“Sharon Hoogstraten has proven to be a true blessing to the Potawatomi people for the portraits she began taking in 2010 of Potawatomi Band members in their regalia. This Emmy award-winning lady is loved for her charming character and gracious presence. When working with her subjects, she makes them feel comfortable and appreciated. Dancing for Our Tribe contains large-format portraits that will be cherished for generations. My admiration for Sharon is even deeper as we share Citizen Potawatomi blood.”—Linda Capps Vice Chairman Citizen Potawatomi Nation
  About the Author Photographer Sharon Hoogstraten spent a decade portraying contemporary Potawatomis in regalia and as an unexpected dividend, discovered her own roots. A Michigan native, she traveled to Chicago for graduate study and then stayed having no clue that she was literally walking in the footsteps of her Potawatomi ancestors. Beginning with Citizen Potawatomi Nation, her home reservation in Shawnee, Oklahoma, she called on all nine nations of the scattered Potawatomi Tribe—traveling to Michigan, Wisconsin, Ontario, and Kansas and producing photographic proof that in this new millennium “WE ARE STILL HERE.”

Hoogstraten previously published Green City Market: A Song of Thanks, a pictorial retrospective of the groundbreaking farmers market that boosted Chicago’s culinary reputation as a nationally acclaimed food destination. Sharon resides in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. With her husband, Robert Gray, they raised two fine young men and rescued a 1908 landmark house along the historic boulevards known as Chicago’s Emerald Necklace.