Our culture is rich and diverse.
History teaches us that the land we stand on today was inhabited by indigenous people, people we must thank for protecting and defending the land and nature.
However, diversity should not be synonymous with division.
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In reality, it should be something that unites and strengthens us as a nation – despite ethnicity, color, race, generation, gender and class. And, any story that brings various cultures together is always a story worth telling.
So when this video of a US Navy joining a tribal dance in Oklahoma went viral, it was for good reason.
The dance is part of the annual Oklahoma Iowa Tribe Powwow event that honors the heritage and culture of the Marines.
The tribe of Iowa call themselves Bah Kho-Je or “Gray Snow People” because their dwellings appear gray when covered with fire-smoked snow during the winter. There are two entities of the Iowa tribe: one in White Cloud, Kansas and the other in Perkins, Oklahoma.
For this year’s event, they invited US Marine Lance Corporal Marland Trey Kent.
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He felt honored to carry the American flag at the grand entrance to the event. Then he joined the tribe for a mighty dance.
But, what people didn’t know was that it was a father-son dance.
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The dance started with Vincent Kent, then Trey joined him. They danced to the beat as the tribe banged and clinked their instruments. Behind them, members of the tribe followed, concomitantly dressed in traditional clothing and uniforms.
This dance was a “changing of the guard”.
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You can see how Vincent leads the way, then lets Trey go behind him once before allowing his son to lead the rest of the dance. This is how Native Americans do in their tribal dance.
They haven’t even practiced this at all!
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Il s’avère que les deux hommes sont des danseurs de la tribu. Vincent Kent a déclaré :
“Nous n’avons pas pratiqué cette danse car nous sommes tous deux danseurs de la Ponca War Dance Society. C’est comme ça qu’il est venu faire un mouvement comme il l’a fait !”
Les gens ont été impressionnés par la performance, même ceux qui l’ont simplement vue sur YouTube.
Il est évident que beaucoup de gens apprécient le geste de ce Trey Kent qui a dansé avec sa tribu dans son uniforme de Marine.
Tandis que d’autres ont exprimé leur respect et leur gratitude envers les Amérindiens dans leur ensemble.
Ce n’est pas tous les jours que l’on voit ce genre d’unité.
Cette paire et cette image peuvent paraître étranges aux yeux des autres. Cependant, il s’agit d’un rappel réconfortant de la façon dont nous devons chérir nos racines et notre histoire pour beaucoup d’entre nous. Il ne faut jamais oublier à qui l’on appartient.
Il faut se tourner vers son passé avec gratitude, car ce sont les personnes qui ont fait de nous ce que nous sommes.
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Say hello to Corporal Kent for showing us this.
Watch the full video of their powerful performance below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
