Why We DanceWhy We Dance

A documentary on Indigenous dance, from a 1923 ban on ceremonies to the Meskwaki powwow and the movement for Land Back.

Why We Dance is a documentary directed by Oogie Push. It takes as its starting point a 1923 federal No Dancing Letter that ordered hundreds of Tribal Nations to stop their ceremonies on land shaped by erasure. The Meskwaki answered with a powwow that became resistance and continues today. Shot across the Rosebud Reservation, the Meskwaki Settlement, the Twin Cities, Oʻahu in Hawaii and Mataxhi in Mexico, the film traces Indigenous dance from attempted silencing to Land Back. It shows how movement carries culture, memory and belonging across generations.

Story written by Evenitto from TMDB and the cinemas' notes