Month: November 2026

Posted on

A Prince Amongst Men – Indigenous Warriors Remembered

On Remembrance Day, we honour the courage and legacy of Sgt. Thomas George Prince and remember the Indigenous veterans whose stories too often go untold.

APTN Television Network

CLICK HERE for the Latest Interview

Have you ever heard of the expression “counting coup”? Well, that makes two of us. I have never been much into expressions or historical accounts about war. Every November 11th, I always give thanks and respect, knowing that all people of Canada or Turtle Island reside on soil deemed a safe zone in the world. I also take pride in our reputation as a peaceful nation ready to assist other countries. So, let’s come back to that word.

Counting coup is a tradition among the Plains Indigenous peoples of North America in which warriors earn prestige by demonstrating bravery against an enemy, ideally persuading them to concede defeat without killing them. Sgt. Tommy Prince practiced this method of infiltration in World War II. Prince lived in an Ojibwe community in Manitoba during his early years. So other aspects of Indigenous warrior traditions became evident as well, such as being stealthy, patient, and precise in combat. These innate abilities, plus other reasons, created a desire to enlist in WWII.

Who is Tommy Prince?

Thomas George Prince was born on October 25th, 1915, and lived on the Ojibwe Brokenhead Reserve since 1921. Prince descended from a long line of leaders. For example, his great-grandfather, Peguis, was a Saulteaux chief who pledged loyalty to the British Crown during the War of 1812. Shortly afterwards, in 1817, Peguis signed the first treaty with Lord Selkirk. (Selkirk Treaty) This provided land to the settlers along the Red River.

In the next generation, Prince’s grandfather, Mis-koo-kenew (“Red Eagle”), also served as a principal negotiator and signatory of Treaty 1 in 1871. Also, Chief Mis-koo-kenew backed the Crown during the Red River Rebellion. However, as time moved on, cultural understandings between settlers and Indigenous peoples deteriorated. By the late, 1800’s residential schools started to multiply.

Prince attended Elkhorn Residential School at age 5 and joined the army cadets. This is where he learned to be an incredible marksman. “As soon as I put on my uniform,” he once remarked, “I felt like a better man. I even tried to wear it to class.” But he left school once he reached grade 8 and went back to the Reserve where his family lived. In the 1930’s, the depression was in full swing, and Prince wanted to contribute to the family. So, he worked at whatever jobs he could find.

Finally, in 1940, at 24 years old, he enlisted and joined the Royal Canadian Engineers. His duties were light compared to other army members, and he felt underutilized and bored. In 1942, he answered the call for parachutists of the First Special Service Force, or Devil’s Brigade.  “Tom was ideal for this type of unit,” said FSSF platoon sergeant Al Lennox. “He was brave, he was intelligent.”

Warrior Work during WWII

Prince became the most decorated soldier of the Devil’s Brigade, a special Canadian -American commando unit of World War II. Being of Indigenous descent, Prince possessed unique abilities passed down through time. However, Tommy Prince seemed to become an army of one. During the Devil’s Brigade mission in Italy, Prince acquired a reputation in his unit as one of its most capable reconnaissance scouts. His assignments often required him to cross enemy lines at night to observe German positions and report on troop movements.[7]

During these patrols, Prince wore traditional Ojibwe moccasins instead of the standard military boots. The softer footwear allowed him to move quietly across rocky ground where heavier boots would have made noise. Because of his ability to approach and enter the enemy’s territory without being detected, he got the attention of his commanders. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Gilday, who commanded Prince’s battalion, began assigning him particularly demanding reconnaissance and combat missions that required patience, stealth, and exceptional fieldcraft.[7]

These military covert actions reminded me of the 400 Navajo Marines who used their native language to create an unbreakable military code. This film became another forgotten story of Indigenous soldiers during WWII. It is called “WindTalkers” with Adam Beach and Nicolas Cage.  

During the second campaign, Prince became like a superhero in moccasins. He would change out of his boots for the traditional footwear carried in his backpack whenever it required silent movement. He would sneak past German security guards at night and enter enemy sleeping locations, leaving messages or warnings, stealing boots, and sometimes using his knife to silence an enemy soldier.[39]

These psychological warfare tactics earned the brigade a nickname of “Geist” (“ghost” in English) or “Teufel” (“devil” or “demon” in English) from the German soldiers.

First Special Service Force card (left) and Black Devils (right). Note 1: “Das dicke Ende kommt noch” translates to English as “The worst is yet to come”. These cards were left where the enemy would find them. Note 2: The spearhead is the FSSF’s shoulder patch (Credit: The Album)

 Canada’s Wartime Acknowledgement

Sgt. Thomas George Prince was finally acknowledged as one of Canada’s greatest soldiers in the 21st century. Unfortunately, he had long passed by that time. He died in 1977 at the Deer Lodge Hospital for Veterans. He was penniless and suffering the harsh realities of undiagnosed PTSD. Sadly, his medals had disappeared either through pawn or theft. Then in 2000, they turned up at an auction in London, Ontario. His family wanted to get them back to honour his legacy. Finally, with national media attention, the family “won” them back in 2001. The generous pledges from Indigenous groups, the Royal Canadian Legion, and Veterans Affairs Minister Ron Duhamel paid the hefty cost of $75,000 to return the medals to their rightful home.  

The following year, the French ambassador to Canada presented Tommy Prince’s family with a certificate recognizing his bravery during the Second World War. Coins, plaques, murals, a memorial, plus a statue commemorate his legacy. He has also inspired a play, and Manitoba’s legislature unanimously honoured his contributions and sacrifices in 2004. Today, he remains one of the most renowned Indigenous Canadian soldiers of the twentieth century.

FURTHER READING here

From the End to the Beginning

So, what inspired this seemingly odd post for an arts-focused platform by SeeChangemakers? During my interview with the West Coast artist and carver, Xwalacktun (Rick Harry) and his 10-year-old son, Stanley Ernest Kwu7s Harry, I surprisingly learned of this amazing hero. As Stanley recounted the legend, I interjected in awe that “…this is new information for me.” Unlike the previous research and article of September 27th, I felt shame for not knowing about Tommy Prince.

That became a call for me to not only educate myself but facilitate this knowledge out to others like me. It also was a touchpoint for possibly why the theatre production which the Harry family is part of opens on November 11th. It becomes an act of remembering those forgotten Indigenous peoples of one of the most difficult times in Canadian history.

Hear more about how this incredible arts-based family shows up for their nation while doing what they love.

SeeChangemakers Interview PUBLISHED November 11, 2026

The Family: mother, Jada Temi’xw Spáḵʼem White-Harry; father, Xwalacktun; and son, Stanley Ernest Kwu7s Harry- have roles in the Youtheatre Movement Production of COM-PLI-CIT. It runs from November 11th-15th at Studio 16 in Vancouver. For more information and tickets, go to: https://youtheatresociety.com/

Posted on

Moving Beyond Steps: Dance as a Force for Change

More than steps. More than performance. Discover how dance creates connection, gives emotional expression a new language, and opens possibilities for change.

5Rhythms with Dagmar Cee

Dance embodies the idea of change through its fundamental existence as body movement. Once each limb is repositioned, there is not only a structural change but a physiological one. To this end, it is common knowledge that movement helps us regulate the nervous system. Intentional or rhythmic movement helps regulate our sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Also, moving the body stimulates the production of feel-good and calming chemical messengers like dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and endocannabinoids(partly referred to as the “bliss molecule”), while reducing stress hormones like cortisol(stress hormone). But what about conceptual changes? How can dance activate pathways for societal change and spiritual growth?

Latest Interview

Spiritualism in Dance

Dance is a way of coming back to “the source” – true self or atman, plus the universal source or brahman. Dance and music are often used as spiritual tools for connection throughout time and across cultures. From Africa to the Middle East; from South Asia to the Indigenous cultures of North and South America, dance traditions and rituals connect communities to their divine. Ksenia Parkhatskaya, a renowned dancer and choreographer, states that “dance is a spiritual act.” 

So, let’s just take a moment to reflect on possible childhood memories. Was there a time when you were alone or with a friend in a field spinning ‘round and round’ in continuous circles like a Sufi Dervish of the Mevlevi order? After a couple of minutes, maybe seconds, you fell to the ground in a bout of laughter. Your heart was beating so fast, and your brain was still spinning, but the feeling of elation was there. It is this act of dance or whirling that brings with it a connection to this elevated or higher state. These acts of ‘letting go’ to find a connection to self are what have driven many Western contemporary dance movements. Finding a way to listen to our bodies to speak a truth without using verbal language.

Image Courtesy of Tentacle Tribe

Contemporary Dance Moving Us Forward

During the mid-20th century, modern dance, which was a reaction to classical ballet, took on a broader direction called “contemporary dance”. Three main techniques in contemporary dance are:

  • Contraction and Release: A method of tightening and relaxing muscles to show emotion and energy flow.
  • Fall and Recovery: Using gravity and momentum to create movements that fall to the floor and rise back up.
  • Improvisation: Allowing dancers to create movements freely in the moment.

It is the last technique of improvisation that opened a door to so many other platforms that touch on the idea of self-expression and healing through dance. During the 70s in North America, spiritualism and tapping into our emotional and energetic selves began another dance trajectory.

Dancing from the Inside Out

Ecstatic dance, 5Rhythms, and Contact Improvisation are three such departures. However, there are many more. To keep it simple, let’s look at these to begin with. All of them focus heavily on improvisation. As well, many involve attention to emotion as a guide for self-expression through movement.

Ecstatic Dance: Ecstatic dance is a form of dance in which dancers, sometimes without following specific steps, abandon themselves to the rhythm and move freely as the music takes them, leading to a trance-like state and a feeling of ecstasy. The effects of ecstatic dance begin with the feelings of ecstasy itself. Of course, this would be experienced in differing degrees. Dancers are described as feeling connected to others and to their own emotions. The dance serves as a form of meditation, helping people to cope with stress and to attain serenity.

 5Rhythms™ is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the late 1970s. It draws from indigenous and world traditions, using tenets of shamanistic, mystical, and Eastern philosophies. 5Rhythms also pulls from Gestalt therapy, the human potential movement, and transpersonal psychology. Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy and moves in waves, patterns, and rhythms.

Contact Improvisation was developed in 1972 by dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton. It draws on the influences of modern dance, aikido, and somatic practices. Contact Improvisation emphasizes the interplay of gravity, momentum, and improvisation, fostering an experimental approach to movement that invites both professional dancers and newcomers into its global community. The practice involves continuous physical touch between dancers, where gravity, momentum, inertia, and friction shape their interactions.

Contact Dance Improvisation

In each of these practices, dance becomes a deep dive into the depths of the true self as reflected through body movements. So, an intuitive expression of the energetic being gives a conscious intersection where external dialogues reach a deeper level. This creates much more than dance; it creates conversations of energy both inside and outside of the self.

The Act of Dance as Activism

Moving away from traditional dance such as ballet is an act of resistance itself. During the 20th century, there were dance movements and dancers that rose above the fold. For example, Modern Dance took shape in the early decades through Martha Graham’s work. Many spectators were in awe of the less structured movements of contraction and release; fall, recovery, and its floor work. These various aspects allowed for a more emotive display of dance. With this, audience members were now breaking the fourth wall in a dance performance. A perfect example of this was through the dancer, Pearl Primus, performing “Strange Fruit”. This performance was one among many from Primus during the 1940’s.

Pearl Primus, born in Trinidad in 1919, burst onto the dance scene in 1943. Her family had moved to New York early on in 1921. Early in her dance career, she trained with the politically active New Dance Group. After their influences mixed with her own background, she choreographed a wide array of performances such as “Jim Crow Train” and “Strange Fruit” amongst others. She was a force on stage. Her silent performance in “Strange Fruit” was said to have had the greatest impact on the audience. They could hear the gasping intake of breath while her fists beat on the ground. “The physical iterations are not a metaphor for resistance but resistance in themselves,” states Dana Mills in her book, Dance as Activism. Primus’ impact on a generation of viewers went far beyond the stage. She establishes that, in the end, “the dance itself was not created for a dancer but as a statement to society and the world.”

Philadance Performance of Pearl Primus’ Strange Fruit

Street Dancing Roots and Styles

Street dancing emerged in North America in the 60s-70s because minority (at the time) cultures were being excluded from formal dance studios. As an act of resistance and solidarity, African American, Latinx, and Caribbean communities cultivated the genre underground in public spaces.

Regional Roots: Different styles developed in specific urban centers:

  • New York City: Breakin’ (breakdancing) and hip-hop social dances grew out of the South Bronx block parties and DJ breaks, while House dance evolved in underground clubs in New York and Chicago.
  • California: Popping and Locking grew out of the 1970s funk era on the West Coast, alongside styles like Krumping later in Los Angeles.
  • Club Culture: Queer underground scenes in cities like New York birthed styles like Voguing and Waacking as forms of radical self-expression and community

As time moved forward into the following decades, these subversive dance styles gained mainstream acceptance through music videos, film, corporately funded crew battles, and finally a globally recognized category within the 2024 Olympics. HISTORICAL TIMELINE

CoroCasse Street Dance Festival supported by Tentacle Tribe

The street dance umbrella covers several distinct genres, detailed by the Rennie Harris American Street Dance Archive and explored across guides like Red Bull’s Street Dance Overview:

  • Breakdancing (Breakin’): Characterized by top-rock (standing footwork), down-rock (floor work), freezes, and high-energy power moves.
  • Popping: Built on sharp, sudden muscle contractions (“pops”) paired with robotic, wave-like, or animated illusions.
  • Locking: A fun, character-driven funk style defined by sudden pauses (“locks”), pointing, and expressive gestures.
  • Hip-Hop Dance: A foundational social and freestyle movement style tied directly to hip-hop music, rhythm, and attitude.
  • House Dance: Focused on fast, rhythmic footwork, fluid torso grooves, and floor-to-air transitions.
  • Waacking & Voguing: Expressive, arm-and-pose-dominant styles born from queer club culture

NOTE: In a future edition of SeeChangemakers, we will be expanding in depth and detail of Street Dance culture in an anticipated New Year’s Interview. For now, this gives the reader a quick survey of some of the basics of the genre.

A Dance Company that Explores Both

During our Facebook Live interview with Elon Hoglund of Tentacle Tribe Dance Company, we discussed the idea of Dance as a language of the spirit and body. Tentacle Tribe is known for their unique approach to dance, combining both Contemporary and Street Dance themes within their performances. They are currently touring and featuring their most recent show, DIRT at the CULTCH from NOV. 4-8th.  Watch the video interview here:

Interview on October 24th, 2026 Published November 1st, 2026

Also explore our previous interview with Tentacle Tribe here to learn more about the dance company itself.