ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the work of Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw dance artist Wax̱a̱widi (William Wasden Jr.) and his process of song-composition and choreography for “The Grease Trail Song” (1999). Dangeli examines the role that protocol plays in the work of Wa̱x̱awidi, and other Northwest Coast First Nations dance artists and argues that it is foundational to their creative process. She argues that protocol constitutes much more than the boundaries of their artistic practice but is the creative lens through which First Nations dance artists enact a theoretical framework she calls dancing sovereignty. Dangeli defines dancing sovereignty as self-determination carried out through the creation of performances that adhere to and expand upon protocol in ways that affirms hereditary privileges and territorial rights among diverse audiences and collaborators. These assertions of sovereignty are not moored to Western legal definitions but are articulated through Indigenous nationhood and the protocol and epistemologies thereof.
