Eugene Tapahe: ART HEALS The Jingle Dress Project and Standing Rock Movement

2026-08-13 - 2026-11-01

Opening reception and Artist Talk Thursday, August 13, 20926  5-7 PM  Tapahe will share his insights and the dream which brought healing through his art.

The Ojibwe jingle dress dance originated from a dream to heal. The sound of the cones on the dress connect us to the water and the land, embodying the ancestors' prayers.

Over the past ten years, Eugene Tapahe has documented this dance, beginning at the Standing Rock camps in North Dakota and throughout the world during with Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project. This dance brought healing, hope, and unity during times of trauma, fear, and uncertainty.

Eugene Tapahe documented the strength, unity, inspiration, resilience, and hope of the Indigenous-led movement that began in April 2016 to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota He remembers the grace and courage of Jingle Dress dancers healing the trauma inflicted on the water protectors. Years later, Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project originated from a dream Tapahe had during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspiring him to unite the land and people through the healing power of the Ojibwe jingle dress dance

The unity and resilience of native ceremony, traditional storytelling, and the healing power of the jingle dress have connected these two historical events.