Dancing with the Spirit director Belle Mickelson writes, “My son Mike, Rion Schmidt (a banjo player from the Prince William Sound Native community), Josephine Malemute (Koyukon Athabascan guitar player), and I were just at Point Hope, Alaska January 3-10. The kids, teachers, and community loved it, and we taught with the Inupiaq language teachers—Josephine and I with the elementary students and Mike and Rion with the middle school and high school classes.” We sang Inupiaq songs and added Inupiaq words, like muqpauraq, their word for fry bread, to the Shortnin’ Bread song.
After this summer’s Cordova Music Camp, Belle is planning a Dancing with the Spirit Yakutat Music Camp which will feature bluegrass and Hawaiian music. “Yakutat is a village just down the coast from Cordova,” she explained. “The Native tribe, churches, and school there are enthused! Dancing with the Spirit is now our own nonprofit, and we’ve started a Dancing with the Spirit Endowment Fund with the Alaska Community Foundation so we can keep Dancing with the Spirit going long into the future!”
The Cordova, Alaska-based Dancing with the Spirit program is made up of musicians who live and work on the lands of dAXunhyuu, the Eyak People, the Sugpiaq People, the Gwich’in People, the Koyukon People, the Inupiaq People, the Deg Hit’an People, the Yupik People, the Aleut People, the Tlingit People, the Haida People, and the Tsimpsian People. Dancing With The Spirit – Passing Music on to Alaska’s Youth
Dancing with the Spirit’s mission is to connect youth and elders through school music programs and camps–promoting spiritual, physical, and mental wellness with the joy, love, and hope of music. And their goal is to prevent suicide, drug, alcohol, and domestic abuse by building self-esteem, preserving musical traditions, and encouraging strong healthy communities. In the past two school years, they have done 52 weeks of music camps.
Return to the March 2026 issue of The Cornerstone.
Photo above: Pt Hope, Alaska third and fourth graders with their bluegrass instruments.
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