- We are the Sampson brothers, hoop dancers here in Minneapolis.

♪ Take you back to the Rez ♪ ♪ Take you back to the spot ♪ ♪ Where the settlers are cold ♪ ♪ And the summers are hot ♪ ♪ And the cattle got sold ♪ ♪ My mom almost got shot ♪ ♪ Stories we never told ♪ [Lumhe] The dance is thousands of years old.

We have the opportunity to share the true knowledge about indigenous people.

[Samsoche] To be able to keep these teachings alive, it's healing for us, but then it's also a very powerful tool for reaching people.

♪ chanting and beating of a drum ♪ [Lumhe] My brother and I, we are from the Seneca people of upstate New York and also Muscogee Creek, where my father is from.

[Samsoche] How we ended up here in Minneapolis, we both found partners from Minnesota but also the art scene here in Minneapolis is thriving.

And for us, to have that avenue of representation is key.

♪ I am brought forth by my chiefs ♪ ♪ my ancestors, my reservation ♪ [Lumhe] Historically, hoop dance came from the Southwest, either the Hopis or the Pueblos.

Hoop dance was a way of teaching, the way to break boundaries by not necessarily knowing the same language.

[Samsoche] When the hoops are first created back by our ancestors, they used a willow reed, which grew along the water.

So bringing the hoops back to more natural spaces rekindles that connection with the land and the water.

[Lumhe] What happened with colonialism and the genocide of Native Americans, we lost our connection to our culture.

We were forbidden to sing our songs, our dances.

And so to have an opportunity to exercise it in this day and age to me is an ultimate act of sovereignty, the resistance.

And when I'm out there dancing, I'm representing myself, my family, my ancestors forevermore.

♪ ethereal synths and fast claps ♪ I carry them all with me.

♪ ethereal synths and hand percussion ♪ ♪ Native American flute ♪ [Lumhe] We started dancing, my mother had us dancing from the moment we could walk.

And we were in powwows.

[Samsoche] Our father is the late Will Sampson, who became a very iconic Native actor.

[Film Excerpt] You cannot learn by forgetting.

You fooled them, Chief.

(laughing) You fooled them, you fooled them all.

[Samsoche] He broke through into the mainstream cinema.

Before then, Native Americans weren't viewed as equal.

And we strive to kind of carry that legacy in the work that we do in our art.

♪ Teach 'em all about red man, red man ♪ [Samsoche] As an indigenous person that's lived and performed and visited different cities, Minneapolis holds, I think, a very special place.

Minneapolis is a huge starting ground for the American Indian Movement.

A call to action for a lot of urban indigenous peoples to reclaim their identities and their culture.

♪ Your history books, your holidays ♪ ♪ Thanksgiving lies and Columbus Day ♪ ♪ Tell me what I know ♪ more than the teacher ♪ [Samsoche] In the late sixties the activists organized against the poverty that this treatment that a lot of our communities were facing in the United States' cities.

They developed a commission that was able to hold the United States accountable for upholding the treaties that it had signed with all the tribes throughout the United States.

And in 1978, the Longest Walk led by AIM covered 3,200 miles and ended up in Washington, D.C. At the end of this walk, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed.

[Lumhe] And only then were we allowed to actually practice our culture in a land where the First Amendment is the freedom of religion.

♪ Tell me what you know ♪ about thousands of nations ♪ ♪ Displaced and confined ♪ to concentration camps ♪ ♪ Called reservations ♪ ♪ We died for the birth of your nation ♪ ♪ Hollywood portrays us wrong ♪ ♪ History books say we're gone ♪ ♪ Your god and church say we're wrong ♪ ♪ We're from the Earth, it made us strong ♪ ♪ Many moons, red man fight pale face ♪ ♪ The red man, red ♪ [Lumhe] So go ahead and duck your head and cross those two.

Yeah, it's a little tricky.

Hoop dance, they say, is a healing dance.

For me, it helped me recognize where I come from, but also it has given me a tremendous instrument and tool to inspire kids particularly to be proud of who they are.

♪ Dear native youth ♪ ♪ I wrote this song for you ♪ ♪ Cause I wanted you to know ♪ that I put my heart into ♪ [Samsoche] In life we don't start out as like a big eagle.

We start out very small.

And when we first learned, the way we were taught, when you dance, we're never truly alone.

If you just keep that in mind, that gives you the courage and the confidence to take what you learn and take it further.

♪ Close your eyes for a second ♪ ♪ Imagine you no longer living in fear ♪ ♪ Keep your head above the clouds ♪ ♪ And know it gets better from here ♪ ♪ Pretend for one second... ♪ ♪ music track continues ♪ (KQED sonic ID)