Sewam American Indian Dance Resource Guide
School Matinee
Sewam American Indian Dance
Monday, November 16, 2026 • 11:00am-Noon
Sewam American Indian Dance showcases well-known American Indian dances. Wearing traditional regalia, the performers use American Indian Sign Language, dance, live singing and live drumming to reveal the empowering and inspiring nature of the United State Plains Indian culture. Every song, dance and gesture illustrates a part of Native American heritage as a people with roots in the distant past.
Video
Excerpts from the 2014 San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival Audition for Sewam American Indian Dance. Audition was accepted and Sewam was featured in the last weekend of the June 2014 Festival.
Rhythmix Performance, Art & Learning program: Wearing traditional regalia, Sewam American Indian Dance director Eddie Madril uses American Indian dances, sign language, live singing and drumming to reveal the empowering and inspiring Plains Indian culture. October 5, 2017
Message from Sewam Dance
It has been said that Native people do not have a religion, but rather a way of life. Everything a Native person has been taught reflects some relationship and/or responsibility with his/her environment. There is truly a science to how Native peoples lived. With all things that provide subsistence there is a ritual procedure. There is recognition of a Great Being from birth until death and from the time when one awakens to the time of sleep.
We could never begin to teach all that there is to learn about the Native American people. Our videos are intended to expose students to the Native culture, more specifically the people of the Plains; and hopefully cultivate an appreciation and interest in learning more. Within the Native American culture, there is rich diversity. People coming from different environments, traditions, and beliefs…not unlike the diversity of your classroom.
About The Artists
Sewam American Indian Dance Company specializes in the dance and culture of the United State Plain Indian tribes. Members have performed to critical acclaim throughout the western United States, including educational venues, veterans’ homes, convalescent homes, and most notably at the 1984 Olympic Games and the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.
Artistic Director Edwardo Madril is a member of the Pascual Yaqui tribe of Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora Mexico. He is an active member of the Native American community and a representative of his culture as a dancer, singer, teacher, playwright and filmmaker. For over 25 years, his involvement and commitment to native heritage has provide him with the opportunity to share a wealth of information amongst diverse communities.
Program Director Sara Moncada began her studies in dance and theatrical performance at the age of six including classical ballet and modern dance. In 2001, she discovered her passion for the art of Flamenco and began studying in the U.S. with La Monica and La Tania, among others. Her studies took her to Spain where she studied with such artists as Farruquito, La Farruca, Pastora Galvan, Andres Marin and Rafaela Carrasco. As her dance career evolved, her involvement in her Native American culture and heritage merged with her performance and professional dance training, naturally bringing her Native American dancing to the theater stage. She began presenting Native American culture, arts, and dance with Eddie Madril in 2008 and formally joined Sewam American Indian Dance as a dancer and choreographer and became Sewam's Program Director in 2012.
Vocabulary
Sewam: Pronounced “say-wahm”; means flower.
Bustle: A cluster of feathers that are attached to a person’s back.
Drum: An instrument used by many Natives, representing the heartbeat.
Grand entry: A procession of all dancers in a Powwow into the arena or arbor.
Powwow: A traditional large tribal or intertribal secular gathering that encompasses singing, dancing and honoring ceremonies.
Regalia: Personal attire worn by a dancer. Not a costume.
Roach: Porcupine hair headgear worn by male dancers.
Things to look for while watching the performance:
- Listen to the drumming and the vocals and how they affect the dances.
- Notice all the special details on the regalia.
- What stories or ideas are being communicated in these dances? How can you tell?
Things to discuss after viewing:
- Many students in our region have Native American ancestry. Do you know if you do? If yes, do you know which tribes or where they lived? Could you show your class where on a map?
- What are some common misconceptions about Native Americans?
- How might climate change the clothing, food, or housing of different tribes?
- What reasons or occasions could be used to celebrate? Maybe seasons, an annual event, or a victory? Think of some others. Make up a dance or a song that reflects your environment such as your classroom, your city or your hobbies.
Learn More:
Attending The Theater: What is expected of student audiences at the matinee
Native Land: Map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages in your community and elsewhere
National Museum of the American Indian Resource Center
Census Data: US American Indians and Alaska Natives
You can also follow Sewam on Instagram and their website.
Books:
Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children, Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchae, (Fulcrum, Inc., Golden, Colorado), 1988
Drumbeat…Heartbeat: A Celebration of the Powwow, Susan Braine, (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co.), 1995
Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions, Charlotte Heath, ed., (National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution & Starwood Publishing, Inc., Washington D.C.), 1992
– Book list courtesy of Young Audiences of Northern California