Jonathan Windy Boy Dances His Way Into the Hall of Fame

Montana’s well-known Chippewa Cree, Jonathan Windy Boy, has been inducted into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

Windy Boy began dancing at just 2 years old at a pow wow in Fort Belknap and never looked back. He quickly took to pow wow and grass dance, competing through the 80s and 90s. 

Some of his accomplishments include:

• Winning 17 titles at the Gathering of Nations
• Winning 14 times at the United Tribal Grass Dance
• Being a five-time Champion at the Schemitzun (Connecticut) World Championships
• Having a song and dance created in his honor: Nimihito Awasis (Dancing Child) by the Northern Cree
• Being mentioned in National Geographic
• Dancing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia

Jonathan Windy Boy: dancer, politician, role model and more

Though Windy Boy is known as the “Michael Jordan of Pow Wow and Grass Dance,” he's also a Tribal Leader for the Chippewa Cree tribe, a former member of the Montana House of Representatives, and a former State Senator for Montana. Currently, Windy Boy serves as a member of the Montana House of Representatives in District 32.

To boot, he has also worked in oil field exploration and as a drug and alcohol prevention speaker.

In 2013, he introduced Montana Senate bill 342, which earmarked $2 million for a Montana Indian Language Preservation Pilot Program, which provided “funding to Montana’s eight tribes to develop materials to keep their languages alive for future generations.”

Windy Boy speaks out about these efforts and more in this video: 

Windy Boy's induction into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame is just the latest testament to his outstanding work ethic–as a dancer, but also as a politician, leader, role model, and person.

Congratulations, Jonathan Windy Boy!

Last Updated on February 16, 2024 by Paul G