Harris Family Narragansett Dance Troupe

Harris Family Narragansett Dance Troupe
City Hall Stage Directions
Saturday, September 6 |
12:10PM - 12:30PM

Westminster Street Stage Directions
Saturday, September 6 |
3:00PM - 3:45PM

A performance by the Harris Family Narragansett Dance Troupe is a vibrant, multi-generational experience that uplifts the living culture of the Narragansett Tribal Nation—the first people of what is now called Rhode Island. As Indigenous stewards of these lands, the Harris family begins by honoring the homelands of the Narragansett people through land acknowledgements rooted in respect and truth. Their programs include traditional storytelling, cedar flute music, hand-drum songs, social dances, and championship-level powwow dancing.

The Harris Family Narragansett Dance Troupe is a multigenerational Indigenous family of artists, educators, and cultural bearers from the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. Led by Thawn Sherenté Harris and Eleanor Dove Harris—citizens of the Narragansett Tribe, culture keepers, and seasoned educators—the troupe includes their seven children, each carrying forward traditional knowledge through dance, song, storytelling, and visual arts. Together, the family lives adjacent to their reservation lands, where they root their lives in community, culture, and intergenerational teachings.

Thawn and Eleanor have spent nearly three decades sharing their culture with schools, universities, organizations, and international audiences—from President Clinton’s second inauguration and the World Folk Festival in France to the US Department of Defense and Brown University. Thawn is a world champion Eastern War Dancer, acclaimed storyteller, and cultural ambassador. Eleanor is a celebrated educator and cultural performer, honored as a Rhode Island District Teacher of the Year and a Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher.

Their children each carry a unique gift:

• Sherenté Mishitashin Harris, an internationally recognized Two-Spirit advocate, is a Brown/RISD Dual Degree graduate, award-winning scholar, PhD student at Brown University and Fancy Shawl Dancer featured in the documentary Being Thunder.
• Nkéke Waupianoohom Harris is a Brown University graduate, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural performer whose work spans visual art, fashion, theatre, and grassroots Indigenous advocacy.
• Pummukau W.A. Harris, a Men’s Fancy Dancer and emerging cultural innovator, is known for blending tradition with activism, from welding steel longhouses to launching an Indigenous fashion line.
• Yoyatche M.N.M. Harris is a champion Eastern War Dancer and traditional drummer whose name means “He Always Remembers the Old Ways,” a promise he honors in movement and music.
• The Harris Twins, Mishánogqus and Máshisha, are Fancy Shawl Dancers who carry forward their family’s legacy with joy and beauty, stepping into the circle with grace and determination.

Together, the Harris Family offers dynamic and heartfelt cultural presentations that honor the traditions of their ancestors while uplifting the voices of the next generation. Through dance, song, storytelling, and the visual arts, they share the living culture of the Narragansett Tribal Nation—the first people of Rhode Island—inviting audiences to deepen their understanding and respect for the Indigenous peoples of this land and across the Northeast.

Websites & Links