A Beautiful Yet Necessary Documentary: "Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project"

Image Source: West Seattle Blog

Racism is defined as "prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people based on their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized." It is a reprehensible yet actual fact that the United States is racist. Not just toward people of color, but anybody and everybody who is not a white, straight male. Among more than I can count on my two hands, this racism found in the United States includes the indigenous peoples. 

Just today, I got the privilege of being able to sit in on a presentation by Eugene and his daughter Erin Tapas. The Tapas is a part of the Navajo tribe of America. Last year, they and three other women traveled around the country, visiting places where their ancestors walked to spread hope, healing, and awareness. They did this through dancing and pictures and called their objective the Jingle Dress Project. Jingle dresses are essential to the Native people and symbolize healing within their tradition(s). By bringing these dresses and the dances that accompanied them across the country, constantly to state/national parks, they spread this healing across the land, uplifting the communities they visited. However, they did not just do this to spread healing and hope; they also did this to spread awareness about the world's missing and murdered indigenous women. Eugene Tapahe has worked for a few news stations/newspapers and has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. They followed along with the dancers, taking pictures of them to help spread this awareness even further.

I listened to these two phenomenal people speak as they presented their pictures, explained the meaning, and emphasized their reasoning. They then played the documentary that was done for their project by PBS. If you have the time, I would highly recommend watching it. Before attending this presentation, I knew that racism was rampant in the United States. I just did not know just how detrimental it was. The United States needs to change, and it needs to change fast. People are people, no matter how they look, speak, act, or what they believe in. The Tapahe's left the audience with a message that I have often told myself and others when the situation requires, and it was: treat other people how you would wish to be treated. 

I couldn't agree more.