“When I’m dancing I’m in prayer the whole time. Praying not for me, not just for my family, but for everyone and everyone watching. But it’s also a contest inside, as well,” Casas said.

Casas has been traveling the country from California to Canada and beyond, showcasing his skilled and sacred dancing at powwows and other events. Casas has returned to North Dakota to dance for Hostfest visitors and vendors alike.

Although Norsk Hostfest is primarily a Scandinavian cultural festival, at the heart of the Hostfest is cultural exchange, education and celebration.

“We’re standing on indigenous ground right now. This area belonged to the Turtle Mountain people,” Casas said. “I think it’s important to acknowledge the indigenous peoples when it comes to a big event like this.”

Audin Rhodes/MDN From left are Les Thomas, tourism consultant for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Jersey Johnson, Miss Norsk Hostfest 2024 and Sage Casas, MHA Nation champion dancer at Norsk Hostfest on Wednesday.

Some of the vendors from Norway, Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries are shocked when they see Casas walking through the Hostfest in his full Native American regalia. “They’ve never seen anything like it before,” Casas said.

In this way, Casas is able to share some of North Dakota’s indigenous culture with the cultures of the Scandinavian visitors.

Many parallels have also been drawn between indigenous Native American cultures of North Dakota and the Sami people of Norway.

“The Sami people are the indigenous people of Norway. They were raised with the reindeer. We were raised with the buffalo,” said Les Thomas, tourism consultant for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. “We’re both indigenous.”

Much like Native American cultures, the Sami people have rich oral history traditions and stories. The Sami have also lived in lavvus, which are temporary dwellings similar in appearance to the Native American tipi.

According to Thomas, the Sami have been present at Hostfest in previous years but have not returned since COVID-19 hit.

Thomas believes sharing Native American culture with the public is important in educating people about the nuances of individual tribes and nations, something Casas believes in as well.

“I think it’s important that we share everything,” Cassas said.

Casas not only dances for visitors from abroad and other states, he dances for North Dakota residents as well.

“There’s people who have lived in North Dakota all their lives and this is the first time that they’re seeing this,” Casas said. “Fort Berthold is an hour away. Turtle Mountain is two hours away. It’s not like we’re a foreign country. We’re right here.”

On Wednesday, Casas celebrated his culture for visitors by performing a powerful, ceremonial dance known as the prairie chicken dance. The prairie chicken dance comes from the Blackfeet Tribe in Canada and is also Casas’ favorite dance.

“It’s not a style you can just pick up, you have to be invited in,” Casas said about the prairie chicken dance. Casas’ father, Brody Screamingeagle, invited Casas to learn and perform the dance.

“He invited me in and I fell in love with the style after that,” Casas said.

The prairie chicken dance mimics the mating dance of grouse. There will typically be a drum group present with between five-10 men drumming. For Casas, the drums are a test of his and other dancers’ reflexes.

“It’s dancer versus drum. My goal is to stay on beat and get all my stops. I don’t want to overstep, I don’t want to step too soon or stop too soon,” Casas said.

Between dances, Casas also shared with the audience the originating story of the prairie chicken dance, how it came to be and its significance throughout time.

The story Casas shared details the life of a starving hunter who comes across a prairie chicken. The story ends with the hunter promising to carry out the prairie chicken dance with his people from then on.

The regalia Casas wore for the dance symbolized the prairie chicken as well, with two top feathers on the head and extravagant, colorful detailing throughout, including feathers and mirrors along with elaborate beadwork, all with the goal of attracting attention much like the male prairie chickens do for their hens during their mating dance.

Many of the pieces for Casas’ regalia were collected over time. Additionally, Casas’ mother, Tania Screamingeagle, helped Casas with the beadwork and other details.

“The beadwork is what took the most time,” Casas said. “There were plenty of times where my mother was stressed out and she would start crying while she was making it. She’d poke a needle and she’d bleed into it. Quite literally her blood, sweat and tears went into it.”

Casas and his father helped work on the regalia as well and the design is completely unique, as are all Native American regalia. “You’ll never find two that look the same,” Casas said.

Like Casas followed in his own father’s footsteps, so too is Casas’ son, Killian, 8, following in Casas’ footsteps. Killian is also an MHA champion dancer and will be performing the grass dance with Casas today.