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home / 世界杯决赛2022

'dancing is healing': courtney-dawn anaquod models mental health through métis jigging

from teaching saskatoon high school students to performing at new york fashion week, anaquod uses métis jigging to connect with others.

by jocelyn bennett
published nov 28, 2022
read time 5 minute read
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read time 5 minute read
join the conversation
courtney-dawn anaquod combined her two passions on the world stage at new york fashion week earlier this year: modelling and métis jigging. photos from the event show her on the runway — about to share her traditional dance with the crowd.
“it was like a dream come true for her, and i was very happy … just to support her in her dream,” recalls her father, donny anaquod.
though she has been jigging most of her life, anaquod’s dream of fashion modelling came true much later.
she started in 2019 and soon won the 2020 international indigenous arts fashion model of the year award, thanks to a nomination from designer christine tournier-tinkerkemp of s.s. river designs.
the award included an opportunity to walk the runway at new york fashion week, but the trip was delayed until this year due to covid-19.
2020 was a complicated year for anaquod. she found herself happy for the modelling recognition while also grieving the death of her husband.
“he started to show and help me know my real worth as a person and what love looked like,” she says.
“i think everything that happened in that year just kept me pushing myself further, with those opportunities that opened the doors and actually held me together in that grieving process and in that healing journey of losing someone that you’re not supposed to lose at a young age.”
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the experience with nyfw has also provided further modelling opportunities for her, including an indigenous fashion show in france this spring.
courtney-dawn anaquod walked and jigged on the runway at new york fashion week in september 2022.
courtney-dawn anaquod walked and jigged on the runway at new york fashion week in september 2022. supplied photo
anaquod’s passion for métis jigging has her incorporating it into everything she does, wherever she can.
“dancing has been the centre of who i am. and my dancing follows me wherever i go. if i do motivational speaking, then i usually end in a performance.”
when she started learning traditional jigging as a young girl with her musician father, she found a deeper connection to her roots.
“my kokum was a championship jigger — it runs in my family,” she says.
“i grew up culturally connected in that way … (and) no matter the challenges, the obstacles that my family went through due to the impact of residential schools and then having that intergenerational trauma, music kept us together, dancing kept us together. it healed us.”
today, she is a jigging champion and instructor and runs the métis square dancing group qu-appelle valley square dancers. she continues to feel that cultural connection every time she dances, she says.
“i am not by myself, because i am with all of the spirits, with all of our ancestors and all our loved ones that had passed on. they’re dancing right beside me.”
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her father, donny, says he can see that anaquod truly feels the music and the steps when she dances.
“when she gets on that dance floor, she is dancing from her heart … and it’s uplifting for her.”
courtney-dawn anaquod is a jigging champion, fashion model and youth mentor focused on mental health, seen here in saskatoon, oct. 27, 2022.
courtney-dawn anaquod is a jigging champion, fashion model and youth mentor focused on mental health, seen here in saskatoon, oct. 27, 2022. matt smith / saskatoon starphoenix
as an instructor, anaquod teaches jigging history and explains how different cultures are represented in the footwork.
“i do tell a lot of students that … they have their own unique dance style. nobody’s going to dance the same. there’s no right or wrong way.”
helping indigenous youth reconnect with their culture and traditions is rewarding work for anaquod.
“i’m paving those ways for our younger generations, just like our ancestors paved the way for us.”
anaquod shares jigging and powwow dancing with high school students through her work with the saskatoon public schools indigenous ensemble.
don speidel, the indigenous ensemble’s artistic director, said anaquod connects with the students on an emotional level, often helping them more than they knew they needed.
“she just has the charisma to work with young people. she totally, within a few sessions, built rapport, built a relationship with the kids, just got kids feeling confident, feeling good about themselves. all through dance, all through movement, all through positivity.”
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speidel says the ensemble works to support young people and give them a sense of belonging. anaquod is especially good at this through her dedication to the students, he says.
donny, her father, says anaquod has become a positive role model for so many, especially in her method of teaching through learning.
“she listens to other people and wants to learn because … without learning from one another, how can we live in harmony together?”
anaquod recently joined a global network called connection north — taking it global, which connects indigenous role models virtually with schools across canada.
“(i enjoy) getting to know the children and the youth over in their schools. and also learning about their cultures and how they do things traditionally … we kind of teach each other and engage in that way,” she says.

a role model to many

anaquod says it has been a long journey to get where she is now and to be able to follow her dreams.
“i didn’t get here over one night … everything that i went through, those were all my stepping stones to all of the opportunities that i had taken in my life.”
growing up, she witnessed addiction and domestic violence within her family and later struggled with them personally.
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in her work, she chooses to share stories about these experiences, “to be able to empower other people. no matter the struggle that they go through, there is hope,” she says.
wanting to help other families in similar situations to her own, she acquired a mental health and wellness diploma through the saskatchewan indian institute of technologies.
“a lot of the things that i do comes from … watching (family members) overcome those challenges and pursuing their careers in that mental health and addictions field,” she says.
she is also motivated by the desire to be an encouraging role model for her two children.
“(i’m) raising them to be proud of who they are and where they come from and to be able to carry those cultures and their traditions with pride.”
anaquod recently became the director of the non-profit organization the jacoby centre, which runs out of nutana collegiate and supports young parents who are students at the school.
she helps these students prepare to be parents, providing guidance and supporting their mental health. she also helps them plan for their continued education to ensure they get their diplomas.
having been a young parent herself, anaquod draws from personal experience to connect with the students she mentors through the centre.
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her father, donny, says the young parents look up to anaquod and appear to learn a lot from her approach.
“they support each other when they collaborate with each other and talk with each other (about) their personal issues.”
anaquod says she wants to impress on the people she works with that there is always hope.
“i look at that word where it says ‘impossible’ and i split them in half and it says ‘i’m possible’ … it changed my way of thinking.”
courtney-dawn anaquod is a jigging champion, fashion model and youth mentor focused on mental health. photo taken in saskatoon, oct. 27, 2022.
courtney-dawn anaquod is a jigging champion, fashion model and youth mentor focused on mental health. photo taken in saskatoon, oct. 27, 2022. matt smith / saskatoon starphoenix
jbennett@postmedia.com
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