Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation: Mary-Anne Mustus Memorial Round Dance

May 30 2010
Alexis Community Hall
Tyler Alexis
ACE youth reporter

The event drew a wide variety of people from all walks of life, at heart Alexis still remains a group of people devoted to communal survival and the whole above the one. Although this is not the case in everyday reserve life, which is precisely the reason why these events are so special: people behave equally when they join hands and link in the circle as one. I find the dance itself taxing; maintaining the rhythm correctly requires concentration on my part, but is ultimately satisfying when done correctly.


Above: Several circles, note new circle being linked

This dance was in memorial of one of our band that lived to a very advanced age and held respect as an elder of our community, Mary-Anne Mustus. There were raffles, dried meat was available and some food was provided to guests that arrived early.
Ten singers were called upon to perform and were paid; lead singer was Josh Alexis and he performed excellently this evening.

The dance lasted for hours as old friends socialized and new bonds were forged. The M.C. was Francis Alexis, a man best described as a very amusing entertainer; he was once Chief of Alexis. The crowd was consistently entertained by both itself as well as by the main event, which I will go into a bit from an anthropological perspective.

Sharing food with other people is a very basic sign of friendship shared by all early human societies, that the tradition is still ongoing in Alexis is something of a sociological anachronism, a by-product of colonialism and perhaps even a benevolent one. Such informalities allow us to maintain close links with fellow community members, we are in fact a Feudalism for this reason. The fact that we know who everyone is and what they do (more or less) allows us to take advantage of this and theoretically utilize the best person for the job in everything; that is, to maintain a meritocracy. This doesn’t always happen, but I think that things are headed in the right direction with more light being cast upon the issue.