When thieves stole David Yelloweyes’ sacred eagle feathers a year and a half ago, he felt like they stole a part of him.
The eagle-feather dance regalia had been passed down in his family for several generations, and without it, he couldn’t dance.
“I felt like I broke tradition,” he said. “I felt like I betrayed my family.”
So, when Yelloweyes, wearing new regalia, was able to dance at the Powwow at Covington Middle School in the Orchards area on Saturday, it signified something entirely new and hopeful.
“I’m starting my new tradition,” he said, shortly before the Grand Entry of the Powwow.
His new regalia was a patchwork of ceremonial wear donated from friends, family and strangers alike who felt compelled to help.
Dressed in a white jacket and pants with colorful embroidery and a prominent headdress and bustle, Yelloweyes took the floor in the school’s gym with his fellow dancers. As a group of men pounded away in a drum circle, Yelloweyes tapped his feet and bobbed up and down to the beat.
Looking serious on the outside, Yelloweyes said he felt overjoyed on the inside.
“Dancing has always been something that I’ve loved,” he said. “I didn’t feel complete without dancing.”
Yelloweyes once traveled the country to perform in powwows. In July 2009, he had just moved to Vancouver from Montana. His regalia, including a multicolored Mandan hat and other beaded garments, were stolen from a suitcase in the back of his Ford truck parked in the driveway of a relative’s home in Cascade Park.
Yelloweyes said Saturday that Vancouver police officers never found out who did it.
For a long time, Yelloweyes said, he was depressed, avoiding his friends and not going to powwows because they reminded him of his loss.
Regalia isn’t something a dancer could just buy in a store. Traditionally, the ceremonial garments are bestowed by family members and each carries spiritual significance.
He spent hours visiting pawn shops or trolling online sites, such as Craigslist and eBay, in search of his heirlooms, but they never turned up.
He wasn’t quite sure if he would dance again until friends and family started donating pieces of regalia over the past year and a half.
His uncle gave him a new bustle — the feathers in the back of the regalia — and a new headdress. A Vancouver Heights shoe store gave him a belt and moccasins, and a Portland bead store donated shells for the moccasins.
Family friend Angela Leigh started embroidering his regalia at Christmas and finished Thursday, just in time for the powwow, despite the tradition that embroidery is usually done by family members over a long period.
Asked why she felt compelled to help, Leigh said: “He’s a good dancer. He’s known in the community. He needs to be out there.”
Now that Yelloweyes’ regalia is complete, Leigh said, she plans to help embroider his son’s regalia. Before the theft, Yelloweyes had given his feathers to Little Eagle Yelloweyes, 12, to continue the tradition.
Without regalia, Little Eagle couldn’t dance on Saturday. But, Little Eagle said, he plans to dance as soon as he gets his own feathers — he hopes in time for his birthday next month.
Even so, Little Eagle said he appreciated being at the powwow to see his dad dance.
“He’s been wanting to do this for a long time,” Little Eagle said.
While his son was his only family member in attendance, Yelloweyes said that didn’t matter.
“I told people that I gained so much more than the regalia,” he said of the donated items. “I gained family.”
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
