Men's Fancy Feathered Dance

The brightest and fastest of the men's dance styles, the Fancy Dance or Feather Dance did not originate from any old dance or style. Fancy dancing is the result of trying to entertain visitors at reservations in the early 1920's. The outfit combined the popular bustles of traditional dancers and made them larger, brighter, and more exciting and added feathers, fluffs, and colors wherever they would fit. The Fancy Dance has typically been a young man's dance, although many older dancers who are still in shape participate. The Fancy Dance belongs to no one tribe -- it started in Oklahoma and is now all over the country, with some differences in dress and style in the North.

Fancy Dancers dance much faster than all other styles, and it is sometimes freestyle, with dancers doing such wild things as the splits and backflips, but this is more uncommon. Fancy dancers can dance a type of dance known as a ruffle--it is full of shaking, ruffling, and blinding footwork.

Fancy Dancers have many objects in their outfits that are unique to them. Starting at the top, all Fancy Dancers have a roach, usually a little shorter than normal and with brighter deer hair. The main difference in the head gear of a Fancy Dancer is the rocker spreader, with two eagle feathers that are often decorated with plumes and reflective tape. Some dancers wear scalp feathers, but it is not as common. Most also wear beaded headbands, sometimes with a rosette on the front.

Fancy Dancers usually don't wear a ribbon shirt, but are covered in beaded and fringed aprons over the shoulders and waist. Some also wear loom beaded harnesses that are draped over the neck and hang past the waist. Most also wear small arm bustles that are made from a disc with feathers glued around it. The signifing mark of a Fancy Dancer is his bright, twin bustles. Southern bustles are made from stripped feathers that are decorated with dyed hackle feathers and plumes. One bustle is tied around the neck, and the other is tied to the waist. A newer twist to this is making the bustles from eagle wings, which gives more of a "flying" look. This is more common in the North.

In addition to their aprons, Fancy Dancers wear matching sidetabs to cover their thighs while dancing. All dancers wear large sleigh or the smaller Hawk bells just below the knee. A large Angora goat hide is wrapped aroung the calves to produce the white fuzzy stuff around their legs. Moccasins are usually worn, although some will use neon Aqua Socks instead.

Men's Prairie Chicken Dance

The Men's Chicken Dance Style originates amongst the Blackfoot people. The Blackfoot are very proud of this dance. It started out as a religious society known as the Kiitokii Society.
The Kiitokii Society is still practiced to this day on the Siksika First Nation in Southern Alberta.
This is the story that is told of how this society came to the Blackfoot.
Long ago there was a young Blackfoot man hunting to get food for his family. He heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like something was thumping on the ground. He got very curious and followed this sound. As he approached the sound he saw these prairie chickens dancing in the tall grass. He took his bow and arrow and shot and killed one of these birds. He brought the carcass back to his tipi and his wife prepared it for the evening feast. As the man's family was done eating their dinner, they went to lay their heads down for the night. When this man was sleeping he had a dream that this prairie chicken spirit came to him and asked him "Why did you kill me? My people were doing a sacred dance of my people". The man replied that he needed to feed his family. The prairie chicken had honored this and told this man that he was going to teach him the sacred dance of his people. He was to go out there and teach every man this dance and if he did not do as he was told this prairie chicken was going to come back and take this man's life. This is how the Prairie Chicken Society and Men's Chicken Dance came to the Blackfoot people.