Tribal Dancer & Educator

Dana is a champion traditional Native American dancer, arena director, and educator representing both the Menominee Nation of Northeastern Wisconsin and the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation of Mayetta, Kansas.

2021 World Woodland Championship

Men’s Woodland Traditional Dance

Theatre Dance Director & Educator

“The only way a culture dies is when people allow it to die. We would like ours to continue. We are putting these dances on tape for the children to learn properly how they are performed.” - Mani Boyd, Menominee Tribal elder.

Dana attributes his commitment to preserving and revitalizing the tribal dance of his Elders due to a recorded video of tribal dances that was released in the 1980s. The video made a profound impact on him because he recognized that many of the tribal dances featured in the video recording are no longer performed today.

Dana is working with his Menominee community and Medicine Fish Organization inspiring Indigenous youth to live healthy lifestyles. His goal is to build a theatre production that honors the traditional tribal dances of the Menominee people. While interweaving the modern powwow dance styles to help empower the next generation of tribal dancers and singers.

Dana is a Tribal culture bearer and is committed to incorporating tribal beliefs and values into modern-day life. This is reflected in Dana’s focus on developing practical 21st-century educational programs that capture, maintain, and pass on traditional knowledge systems and values to future generations.

Men’s Northern Traditional Dance

Tribal Powwow Dancer

Dana has been powwow dancing since he could walk. His passion can be traced to the generations of his family passing on the knowledge of traditional song and dance through ceremonies and social gatherings.  This upbringing, coupled with his encounter with the world-renowned American Indian Dance Theatre and Peter Buffet’s, Spirit Dance further ignited his passion for expression through tribal dance. Dana specializes in men’s Northern Traditional and Woodland style dance.