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Traditional Values Of Hoop Dancing Help Heal Wounds

JASMINE BELL
Crow Creek Tribal Member Jasmine Bell, the two-time world champion hoop dancer now lives on the Wind River Reservation.

Hoop Dancer Jasmine Bell of the Crow Creek Dakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota has danced for Mohamad Ali and for all the presidential first ladies. Even the actor Kevin Costner. 

Bell tells a story to her 14-year-old daughter, "I tell her, when you were first born, Kevin Costner kind of babysat you. Because he said, I'll hold her while you dance."

Bell is a two-time world champion hoop dancer, but even for her, life hasn't been easy. Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards spoke to Bell when she performed at the 3rd Annual Conference on Violence Prevention and Response in Riverton. In the coming months, South Dakota Public Broadcasting will begin filming a documentary about Bell's life.

Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.

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