Indigenous Strong:
The Dangeli Family
Git Hayetsk Dance Group Performs at Hobiyee in February 2019
By Amei-lee Laboucan & Mackenzie Rhode
Git Hayestk dance group performing at Hobiyee. Photos 1 and 2: Blessing before the dance is performed. PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC. Photos by Amei-lee Laboucan
It's a rainy Friday afternoon, and hundreds of people have flooded the halls of the PNE forum for Hoobiyee 2019, the celebration of the Nisga’a New Year. The celebration is of the waxing crescent moon and northwest coast people looking to it for signs of success and/ or failure to come in the new year. The audience silences. Drums beat. from behind the curtain separating dancers from spectators, Mike Dangeli emerges.
He introduces his wife, Mique’l Dangeli, and their son, Nick. They are the leaders of the Git Hayetsk dance group.
After the dancing, minutes pass. Mike and Mique’l walk out from behind the curtain, sporting traditional regalia, made by Mike, and matching Apple Watches. The couple embodies traditional and modern, both in their personal life and in their art. They motion to join them behind the stage, where it is quieter. Here, they share their story of love, family, and resilience.
“We fell in love over a totem pole,” Mique’l shares with a laugh while looking at Mike. “He calls me the best Potlach gift ever.”
The Dangelis met while apprenticing under the same master carver. Mique’l commissioned Mike to be a carver on a totem pole she was raising to honour the matriarchal leaders back at her home in Metlakatla, Alaska. That is the totem pole they fell in love over.
"Our ancestors are are super excited and super proud of what we’re doing now." — Mike Dangeli.
Nick, Mique'l and Mike Dangeli at Hoobyiee. PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC. Photo by Amei-lee Laboucan
Mique’l and Mike saw a resilient spirit and passion for culture preservation and language revitalization that created a dynamic partnership. These are qualities that are shared by their son, Nick.
Nick did not always show an interest in traditional dance, just as most children do not share their parent’s interests. Mique’l knew that Nick’s disinterest in dancing would not be permanent, “he was born to drum,” she says. He was around seven years old when he noticed the differences between himself and other children his age because of bullying, and he stopped drumming. He stopped dancing.
“We don’t dance them, they dance us.” — Mique'l Dangeli
Photos 1 and 2 Raven Dance performed by Git Hayetsk at Hobiyee. PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC. Photos by Amei-lee Laboucan & Mackenzie Rhode.
“Hoobiyee is a big part of how he returned,” Mique’l says, proudly.
Mike and Mique’l recognized Nick’s talent, and even though he was not showing interest in it, they did their best to keep him involved.
Nick acted as their roadie, caring for the masks and regalia. His role as a roadie is important, because it is more than just putting them in a box and loading them into a truck.
The masks need rest and care. “We don’t dance them, they dance us,” Mique’l says about the masks. The masks are regarded as spirits and family members to the Git Hayetsk dance group. From a young age, Nick was learning how to care for the masks and respect the process. At 14, Nick watched the drum drill at Hoobiyee and decided he wanted to drum again.
Mique’l looks over at Nick, who is putting the masks to rest across the room, she waves at him, looks down at her phone, then back up,
“I’m trying to get our son to come here, I just texted him,” she says. It is important to Mique’l that Nick is involved in the conversation about their family.
Dr. Mique’l Dangeli was born on one side of a colonial border in Alaska, USA, and earned two advanced degrees on another side of a colonial border in Vancouver, Canada. Holding a masters and a PhD in Northwest Coast First Nations Art History from the University of British Columbia, she was offered a tenure-track position at the University of Alaska Southeast. Mique’l gave up the prime job to move back to the Tsimishan traditional territory on the Canada side of the border, in the small northwest community of Kitsumkalum. This move was to save the at risk Tsimishan language of Sm’algyax. There are more original fluent speakers in Kitsumkalum than Alaska, so she now teaches at the local K-12 school, learns from elders and shares Sm’algyax teaching in the community. She’s also an adjunct professor, teaching Sm’algyax at the University of Northern BC.
Moving back to their traditional territories, Mike and Mique’l offered Nick the opportunity to stay in the lower mainland and take over as leader of Git Hayetsk. He took the offer and is now the leader of the group.
Mique’l smiles when talking about her reunion with the dancers and the behind-the-scenes hugging. Mike chimes in, proudly sharing how grateful he is that the dancers trust Mike and Mique’l’s leadership decision to put Nick in charge. They have watched him grow into the great leader he is today.
Mique’l shares that Nick grew up learning their language at home, and participating in ceremonies, songs, and dances. Learning his culture did not require extra-curricular activities for Nick. He learned at home, in his everyday life, in the way he was raised. “That is resilience,” Mike says.
For Nick, dancing and leading the dance group means continuing his family’s history.
“It’s a huge honour,” Nick says while looking at Mique’l. Nick shares why dancing is so important to him it’s healing and soothing, not only for him, but for all members of the dance group. The biggest reason he decided to continue the group and take over leadership was because of the healing power dance has, and the power that comes with dancing and singing.
Both Mike and Mique’l have also been dancing since they were children. They were raised immersed in their culture. Dancing was, and still is, resilience for Mike. He was made fun of as a child for dancing, his grandparents taught him to hold his head high. During a time of culture erasure and rampant racism, his grandparents remained fluent in their language and continued to practice their culture through singing and dancing. Mike saw these as acts of resilience.
The Dangelis practice their culture through their dances by combining traditional songs with new dances, choreographed by Mique’l.
Mique’l acknowledges that at one time, the songs were new, “born out of something,” she says. She believes that it is important for culture that people
continue to create rather than to reproduce the past, and Mique’l is confident that her ancestors would love the new dances with the traditional songs.
Mike’s ancestors were part of a secret society of artists, so he is confident that they too would love the mix of modern and traditional.
One member of his ancient family died as a sword swallower and fire thrower, and he carved masks for ceremonies. When Mike discovered his connection to his ancestor, the mask carver, he asked his family about it. They knew of the relation and told Mike that they were waiting for him to find the family member on his own.
After discovering this, Mike held a Potlach for Mique’l. At the ceremony, his family put a headdress on Mique’l and gave her the title of Sm Loodm ‘Nuusm. This title acknowledges her creativity through dance. He was given the title of Gootlh Ts’imilx, “as a creator of the ceremonial beings. The masks, regalia, rattles, drums, everything,” he says. It is important to Mike for his family to participate in a traditional ceremony in modern times.
“To me, that shows directly that our ancestors are are super excited and super proud of what we’re doing now,” Mike says with pride.
With a glance at her Apple watch, Mique’l grabs Mike’s arm, saying he’s got to get something to eat. Energy will be needed for the long day ahead. Elders are watching. There are many stories to be sung. Masks are crying out to be danced.
Git Hayetsk dancing at Hobiyee. PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC. Photos by Mackenzie Rhode