Hunting by Stars

The “Jingle Dress” dance refers to a women’s regalia and powwow dance in many Indigenous Canadian and American cultures. A Jingle Dress is made by taping or sewing hundreds of jingles—silver cones—onto fabric. The jingles are sewn in a specific pattern, and the accompanying dance is performed with light footwork. When the jingles move, they create a sound that is believed to have curative properties. Stories from different communities describe how the performance of the dance heals a sick girl. A Jingle Dress is often passed from grandmother to granddaughter, signifying a continuity of tradition and healing. In Hunting by Stars, Jingle Dress dances and powwows are a thing of the past, as the novel’s Indigenous peoples have been forced to go into hiding. This fictional phenomenon draws from history, for the 1925 Canadian “Indian act” outlawed Indigenous dances and regalia and forced Indigenous peoples to assimilate with white settler culture. Only the Métis jig and Inuit dances were permitted, since these groups were not classified as “Indian.” Just as the dances persisted in real life, the novel also provides hope that such traditions will live on.

Even though Rose has never seen a Jingle Dress dancer or attended a powwow, she knows the pattern of the dress by heart.