Deer Dancers 2023 - Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo / Nation - Dancers exiting plaza from second dance

Deer Dancers 2023 - Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo / Nation - Dancers exiting plaza from second dance
A generational Celebration for the Deer and Mother Earth
GATHER, NOURISH, INSPIRE
We were honored to be able to attend a deer dance at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo / Nation to celebrate the importance of the deer for indigenous peoples through beginning-less time.
The Ceremony has its roots in the Mayan culture and is related to the renewal of nature and the coming of a new foaling season and Spring .
The Dancers GATHER around the community to honor the Deer and the successful hunts that sustained the people through winter.
The Hunters give thanks and honoring to the deer that have given their lives to NOURISH the community to survive.
The Deer Dance INSPIRES the community and celebrates the coming of Spring and a renewal of Mother Earths cycle for the next generation.
There is no hunting allowed during the foaling season to honor the cycle of birth of the next generation.
The Dance itself cannot be videoed, but the dancers entering the ceremony in this video show the strength of the community when it gets together for ceremony as it has through beginning-less time.
The Wisdom and Ways of the Elders lives ON in ceremony.