Andrea Spalding and Alfred Scow, illustrated by Darlene Gait,
Secret of the Dance
Orca, 2006.

Ages: 4-8

Secret of the Dance is about a little boy, Watl’Kina, who attends a forbidden event, the potlach.  In Canada, potlaches were made illegal in 1885.  However, because the potlach was an essential spiritual practice of the Kwakwa’ka’wakw Nation, they were held intermittently in great secret.  In 1935, the little boy, Watl’Kina, is taken to a potlach by his family but made to stay inside, away from the Gookji, or the Big House, where the ceremonies are to take place.  Watl’Kina, however, leaves his room and finds himself amongst a parade of beings whom he has heard about only in stories – Eagle, Whale, Raven, Bear: and they are all heading to the Big Gookji.  Dzunukwa, the Wild Woman, whispers to him, encouraging him to follow them, and to watch especially for the Hamatsa.  Watl’Kina, terrified but still very curious, slips inside the Big House and watches out for Hamatsa.  Sure enough, when he comes out, there is something very familiar about the dancing figure…

Secret of the Dance is told in storyteller fashion in the first person voice of Watl’Kina.  The book starts off rather confusingly since it does not make a clear connection between dancing, which we are told is against the law, and the Potlach ceremony – so the inference of the illicit nature of holding a Potlach may not be picked up by some readers. There are a couple more occasions in the book like this, which unfortunately might cause some readers to stumble through the story.  However, having said that, the book tells a compelling enough story with plenty of drama and beauty.  Darlene Gait’s illustrations are a magnificent mix of realism and the distinctive west coast First Nations style of drawing, depicting creatures of the area like salmon and orca.  There is a glossary for the Kwakwa’ka’wakw terms at the end of the book. 

Secret of the Dance is a fine picture book, and even if the transition from the storytelling mode of narrating the tale to printed text stumbles on occasion, the story is nonetheless effectively transmitted, especially through Gait’s fine illustrations.

Sally Ito
April 2010