Approximately 100 people attended the Folklife Festival’s “Native Traditions” performance, which was held as a benefit for the rebuilding of the Karuk tribal dance house that burned down two weeks ago.

Patrick Cleary, president of the Folklife Society, said, “Every year we have a Native Traditions performance because it wouldn’t make much sense to have a Folklife Festival and ignore the native cultures.”

Cleary said that Julian Lang had hosted the previous Native Traditions celebrations, and this year the benefit performance was organized at the last minute after nearly being canceled.

Tickets were sold at $10 and the theater sat 108. Cleary said that the Folklife Society would donate at least $1,000 to the rebuilding of the Karuk dance house and would make up the difference if the show did not sell out.

“This was incredible,” Cleary said, “You could say it is akin to burning down a church. The FBI is involved and they are estimating $50,000 or $60,000 for rebuilding.”

Cleary said that they have seen a groundswell of support from both native and nonnative individuals, and that the eight performers were eager to provide spiritual support for those mourning the loss of the dance house.

The Dell’Arte theater filled quickly and the audience was noticeably diverse in age, race and sex.

The performance began with cousins Julian Lang and Andre Cramblit. Lang softly beat a drum and an introduced the performance with hope, thanking those who had made the performance possible. “I’d like to thank the spirit people for letting us gather today, and I’d like to thank the Wiyot people who allowed us to gather on their land,” Lang said, and also thanked Blue Lake Rancheria and Dell’Arte for their support.

Cramblit stressed the importance of the dance house to members of the Karuk tribe and the community, mentioning names of many who danced their first brush dance at the location.

Trinidad Goodshield, a Lakota from South Dakota, gave the first performance with “Native Blues,” a collection of songs that focused on the spiritual and philosophic aspects of native culture. Goodshield ended his performance with “Honor Song,” which paid tribute to his uncle and to the warrior spirit.

Lou Mourner told a native story about how coyote brought fire to the people of the earth, and Marla Joy played flute to a slideshow of images from the Karuk dance house and the land and people surrounding it. This slideshow continued throughout all the performances.

Six other performances, including a traditional drum routine led by Bruce Kay, as well as poetry reading, storytelling and song performances, entertained the audience until the show ended at 11:00 p.m.