Meet Violet Duncan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Violet Duncan.

Violet, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Violet Duncan I am Plains Cree and Taino descent from Kehewin Cree Nation. I am a former “Miss Indian World” as “Miss Indian World” I represented all Indigenous people of North America. I perform for audiences across the United States, Canada and Europe through work as a native american dancer, hoop dancer, choreographer, storyteller and author. I facilitate all the lady’s pow-wow dance workshops, hoop dance workshops, as well as co-choreographer for contemporary native dance. I am a champion Lady’s Fancy and Jingle Dress dancer and have won spotlight dances throughout the U.S. with buckles and trophies from my competitions. I appear in the 2013 video by Nelly Furtado of the song BIG HOOPS as the Fancy Dancer. I am the Creative Director of Young Warrior Books & Designs. Young Warrior Designs creates beautiful dresses and skirts for young girls and women. After becoming a mother of four and seeing the need for native american representation in literature I took it upon myself to author 3 children’s books, “I am native”, “When We Dance” and “Let’s Hoop Dance!” I am currently a professor at the storytelling Institute at the South Mountain Community College.

Has it been a smooth road?
The struggles have always been there when it comes to sharing our native culture through dance, music and storytelling. Mostly we (our group Tony Duncan Productions) have been welcomed and very warmly received, however, sometimes people are looking for an argument and we as a very marginalized group can be easy targets. The struggle that awoke the storyteller and author in me had to be when my eldest daughter came home from 1st grade with an unflattering and extremely stereotypical feather headdress, her teacher was beginning her week long lesson about what the “Indians” did and looked like and what they offered for the first “Thanksgiving”. Needless to say, all of her facts were false. My husband and I took it upon ourselves to share a free presentation on who modern native people are and what the history of Thanksgiving really is about. It was at this time that I realized that our young people (both native and non-native) need more native representation in the literature to show that we as native people are still here. This venture brought me to the world of design, teaching, dance and of course, writing.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I have many perspectives and experiences with digital marketing. I am a successful globally recognized native artist and the wife and business partner of a globally recognized native artist, my husband Tony Duncan. We use digital tools to connect with our audience all over the world and to share our culture and education as a tool for social change. We started an initiative in the schools in our area to discourage native stereotypes and encourage the active participation of learning about other cultures. We used social media as a vehicle to carry our message of respecting cultures. By sharing the hashtag #respectingcultureiscool, we were able to engage audiences that we never thought we could reach. This initiative was very successful and a vital part of our digital experience. I know from first-hand experience both the benefits and difficulties of building a digital platform as a native artist, and I bring this discernment to the many projects we are a part of.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I hope this will create more space for native artists, dancers, researchers and educators. By creating native space I hope the shift will encourage other native artists that have not come on the scene yet to be inspired and welcomed.

Pricing:

• children’s books $15.00
• CD’s $20.00
• storytelling/dance presentation ~ $800.00

Contact Info:

• Website: www.violetduncan.com
• Phone: 480-316-0835
• Email: violet@violetduncan.com
• Instagram: @violetduncan
• Facebook: violetduncan

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