SEND Acension 2 the World Hoop Dance Championships

The Two Row Times  

By Nahnda Garlow

There’s this kid I know of, well he’s not a kid actually. More of a young man. His name is Ascension. His mama and I were pregnant at the same time and would often wave miserably at each other as we waddled throughout the hot summer of 2001.

Ascension is a pow wow dancer. He is 12 years old and he has been performing hoop dance since he was only two. He has danced all over the world with his family and the Tribal Vision Dance company. He has shared the stage with many excellent performers, including Nelly Furtado! This year, his parents made the decision to take him to Phoenix, Arizona for the 24th Annual Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest on Feb. 8 & 9, 2014.

The thing is, there is no ‘Big Name Company Foundation for Pow Wow Arts’. Nor does the pow wow qualify as a sport, even though the competition is physically intense. Everyone and anyone who travels competitively for pow wow dancing has to fund it on their own. Some people sell tickets and have Indian Taco fundraisers, as is the case with Ascension’s family.

Here’s where my column comes in. Ascension is a fantastic dancer. Not only that, he has a terrific stage presence and is an honest to goodness pure representation of how a young man from Six Nations should behave. In my opinion, he could be a role model. Additionally his parents believe in him so much, they are willing to put life aside for a week to drive him to Phoenix from Six Nations to compete in the World Championships. This is the kind of love and power that decolonization is made of.

Next is where you, my loving readers come in. We posted a message a few weeks ago for our Pay if Forward 2014 campaign in partnership with the Everlasting Tree School and Ascension is the first nominee. It’s gonna cost the family about $3000 to get him there, and we only have a month. Less than actually. His mom is selling beadwork on the side to raise the money to get him to Phoenix and there are some 50/50 tickets for sale as well. But I know with 23,000 copies of the Two Row Times going out every week, combined with our awesome readers on social media we can reach out and help too.

Here is what I propose we do, in two simple steps.

If you support his journey to the championships you can sponsor him.

You can send an email money transaction to tworowpayitforward@gmail.com (Yes, you can do that these days!) If you are in the Six Nations area you can also drop off donations to our storefront counter through Icky’s Tobacconist & Variety at 741 Sour Springs Road.