The Grass Dance, sometimes called the Omaha Dance, is a Native American men’s dance which was practiced by Great Plains peoples during powwows. It is typically danced with yarn and ribbon clothing rather than feather regalia. Although its alternative name, the “Omaha dance,” suggests that the Grass Dance was first practiced by the Omaha, it has also been attributed variously to the Dakota, Pawnee, Ponca, and Winnebago peoples.

Different Native American groups today perform slightly different versions of the Grass Dance, and share different stories about its origins. According to the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, some Native American tribes emphasize the healing potential of the Grass Dance, and teach that it originated with healers desperate to cure a sick child. Others argue that the dance originated in ceremonial purposes: the beating of the feet flattened the grass in the area in which further rituals and feasts were to be conducted.

In either case, the Grass Dance was clearly practiced for ceremonial purposes. It was originally led by the men of the warrior society within the band. The grass dances typically perform first at a powwow, in order to bless the area on which further dances will be performed and to flatten down the grass for subsequent performances. Wanbli Charging Eagle of the Lakota Sioux explains that “the most important thing with grass dancing is respect… Respect the ones that came before you, the ones that actually paved the way for all us grass dancers.”

The Grass Dance, says Charging Eagle, “is about movement, footwork, and style.” The essential feature and mark of skill is symmetry. The Potawatomi state that the basic step in a stamp with one foot and then the other, to which can be added a spin one direction, and then the other, and so on. A sequence of steps is taken on one foot, and then repeated on the other, while the body sways and bends. The songs which accompany the Grass Dance are usually at a moderate pace, but can be fast or slow.

Unlike in many other Plains dances, the participants in the Grass Dance did not regale themselves with feathers, as was common for many ceremonial dances on the Plains. Today, the outfit for the dance is typically a shirt and pants adorned with ribbons, sequins, yarn fringes, and perhaps a roach feather in the headpiece, but no other feathers. The Grass Dance has also become one of many competitive dance disciplines at major events, like the annual Gathering of Nations. Randall Paskemin of the Utah Plains Cree was named the winner of the men’s Grass Dance at the 2013 Gathering of Nations.