Nakotah LaRance successfully defends adult hoop dance world title at Heard Museum championships

February 15, 2016

PHOENIX – Nakotah LaRance (Hopi/Tewa/Assiniboine) of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, N.M., earned 237 points to win his second consecutive adult world hoop dance title at the 26th annual Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest Feb. 14 here. The honor also included $3,500 in prize money.

LaRance’s total, out of a maximum of 250 points, bested that of the second-place finisher, former champion Dallas Arcand (Cree/Nakota Sioux/Metis), of Kipohtakaw First Nation, Alberta, Canada. Arcand had 231 points, earning him a $2,500 prize. In 2015, LaRance’s victory over his next closest opponent, seven-time adult world champion Derrick Suwaima Davis (Hopi/Choctaw) of Old Oraibi, Ariz., was also by six points, 241-235. This year, Davis placed fifth.

Eighty-one contestants – 23 more than in 2015 – competed this year in the museum’s Libby Amphitheater in youth, teen, adult and senior divisions. Here is a news release containing the complete results:

Hoop Dance Results 2016

Here are the winners in the senior, teen and youth divisions:

• Terry L. Goedel, (Yakima/Tulalip), of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., repeated his 2015 feat as senior champion, earning $2,500 with a total of 231 points.
• Teen champion Talon Ree Duncan (San Carlos Apache/Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara), of Mesa, Ariz., won with 239 points, earning $750.
• And Jaron Yazzie (Navajo/Apache) of Farmington, N.M., won the youth division for the third consecutive time, with 235 points, earning him a $350 prize.