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SIERRA VISTA — As Lenny Redhouse prepared to do the Hoop Dance, Mary Redhouse described the symbolism of it.
It represented many things, she said, including the flight of a fledgling. It used to be a healing dance, she explained. And as Lenny danced around, at one point weaving his body through six hoops, he mocked the flight of a bird by making the hoops into his wings.
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, the Redhouse Dancers were at Cochise College to give a performance of “cultural traditions passed down,” Mary said.
The Redhouse Dancers are a family group and members of the Diné (Navajo) Nation. During Monday’s presentation, the dancers did a showcase of intertribal Native American songs and dances, with Mary describing the significance of each one.
  
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The Horse Dance is the celebration of the animals that made the lives of Native Americans much easier when they were brought over by the Spanish and settlers moving West.
“When the horses came onto the scene, natives were happy,” Mary said, explaining that prior to then they had used dogs to carry goods. “They called them super dogs.”
The dance, done by Maria Redhouse, Charlotte Tividad, Lenny Redhouse and Larry Redhouse, featured three ropes, which they intertwined as Mary played a drum and sang.
Tividad and Maria did a female Rain Dance, holding wands that had several fluffy feathers on them to represent the clouds, as well as colorful ribbons to represent a rainbow and rain.
“Female rain is soft and gentle,” Mary explained. “Nurturing for growth.”
“Sometimes it’s been known to rain or threaten to rain after this dance,” Mary added. “Don’t blame us.”
The performance ended with a Friendship Dance, which got most of the audience up on their feet and dancing with the family. As they all held hands and danced in a circle, the laughter and smiles of the participants seemed contagious to those watching.
“This shows that we can get along,” Mary said.
After the performance, Lenny said the family, who have been performing for about 40 years, hoped to educate people through their performances.
“Enlightening the people about the culture and breaking the stereotypes,” he said is the goal of the dances.
Mary said the group was established by her late father, Rex.
“Our father said we are to carry this on into our next generations,” she said.
Herald/Review reporter Katie Evans can be reached at 515-4611.
in need of more culture wrote on Nov 14, 2008 8:29 PM: