;)
Not long before midnight, the blanket was brought into the high school gym for the dance. They had thought about doing it outside, but the wind was very cold and the dancers wanted the Elders to be comfortable and enjoy themselves.
;)
Julius Rexford was the first to step onto the blanket and then the Atkaan crew followed. The dance had begun.
;)
The Atkaan crew.
;)
Then came Thomas and the Nukapigak crew.
;)
The Nukapigak crew. The fun dancing would continue for awhile, and then there would be motion dancing - which will be the subject of my next post, which ought to be up within half-an-hour after this one.
;)
The drummers.
;)
During the dance, I was called up and given a high award - because it came from the heart of my good friends in Point Lay. Julius presented and as he did, Thomas grabbed my camera with the wide angle lens and photographed me.
I was not going to toot my own horn here, but Mary Sage of Barrow put a message on Facebook last night and told me I had better post this picture. So here it is. Mary received such an award herself, as did several others who had contributed to the success of Point Lay's first Nalukatak in 72 years.