I choose this  topic because it is part of my culture and it  is something that I am very proud of . I also choose this topic to tell people about fancy shawl dancing  and why the fancy shawl dance is so important to the Native Americans way of life. I choose this topic to tell the people who want to visit my site some facts about Native Americans so they might learn something about another culture. I think it is good to know about other cultures and to learn about the lives of other people.

I am a fancy shawl dancer so I know mostly everything that there is to know about that dance. When you fancy shawl dance your movement as you dance is suppose to imitate  a butterfly. That is why in the picture at the top of the page has a butterfly in the background of the fancy shawl dancer. Also one of the main part of the fancy shawl dancer is her shawl because it resembles the butterflies wings. 

The fancy shawl dance is only for the girls. Fancy shawl dancers mainly dance at pow-wows. A pow- wow is a cultural event. At a pow- wow you can visit with family and friends or watch all the different types of dancers dance. At pow- wows the dancers can compete in the categories that they fit into.

If a fancy shawl dancer chooses to compete they must sign up and get a number. When a dancer signs up the have to write their first and last name and what style dance the are in whether it be traditional or fancy or jingle. They also have to write how old they are. How old you are and if you are a boy or a girl tells you what category you are. Some of the categories for the girls are Women's fancy shawl or women's jingle dress or women's traditional or teen fancy shawl or teen traditional or teen jingle dress. The women's categories age s are from18 up to 40 or how ever old you are and dance. Those  are the categories for the girls oldest categories. The two younger categories are  junior fancy shawl ,junior jingle dress and junior traditional. then the youngest category is tiny tots from a new born baby to 6 or 7.The juniors category goes from 7 to 12 and sometimes 13. Those are all the girls and women's categories. 

When a fancy shawl dancer dance's she where what is called a regalia. A regalia consists of A shawl, skirt, leggings, bib, moccasins and usually some beadwork for their hair and earring or bracelets. Some women even have their whole regalia beaded and that's alot of beads. So that is what a dancer where's when they dance.

Here are some picture's of different parts of a regalia.

Here are some beaded earrings that fancy shawl dancers wear. The beadwork that fancy shawl dancers wear are also part of their regalia. Next to the picture of the earrings is a picture of a beaded hairclip that the girls would wear in their hair.

Here is a picture of a fancy shawl dancers legging that they wear over the lower area of their legs. And towards the bottom of the leggings are moccasins that dancers wear on their feet, kind of like shoes. This picture of the leggings and moccasins that are beaded with the design of their regalia.

Here is a beaded bracelet that the dancers wear as their jewelry. Usually the jewelry that the dancers wear match the design on their regalia.

My favorite thing about my topic titled fancy shawl dancing is that I am a fancy shawl dancer. Another thing that I really like about my topic is that it is my culture. I also like this topic because I like to dance.