PUEBLO, Colo. – After making modern sports history with the announcement of the all-Native American Team USA-Wolves set to compete inside AT&T Stadium, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) will further celebrate the nation’s indigenous cultures with a Native Fancy Dance Showcase at the 2019 WinStar World Casino & Resort PBR Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, Fan Zone at Texas Live! In Arlington’s Entertainment District on Feb. 8-10, 2019.
Featuring both a men’s and women’s division, the showcase, which will be free to the public, will award contestants a collective $24,000 in prize money. The top dancer in each division will collect $4,000, and the Top 4 dancers from each division will also earn the chance to perform Sunday inside AT&T Stadium during the final rounds of the PBR Global Cup.
A veteran announcer of the Gathering of Nations, North America’s largest pow wow, Ruben Little Head Sr. (Northern Cheyenne) will preside over the showcase as the Master of Ceremonies, while INFR (Indian National Finals Rodeo) President Bo Vocu (Oglala Lakota), a former bull and saddle bronc rider, will serve as the Arena Director.
The duo will be joined by a pair of host drum groups – Wild Rose (Northern; Toppenish, Washington) and Southern Style (Southern; Red Mesa, Utah).
Founded in 1993 by Lyn Hopkins, drawing on her 10 prior years of experience as a Metis drum team member, including two years as an Assistant Drum Chief, Wild Rose now has more than 20 singers. In the more than two decades since its creation, the drum group has flourished into one of the nation’s best, recently invited to the 2018 Gathering of Nations.
With a deep catalog of work, including three CDs in four native languages, Wild Rose has five different members who write songs with the purpose of preserving their tradition for generations.
Recently profiled in the Facebook documentary “Strong Warriors,” Southern Style will also be featured in the Native Fancy Dance Showcase at the WinStar World Casino & Resort PBR Global Cup USA Fan Zone. Much like their Northern counterparts, Southern Style has also been featured in the Gathering of Nations, most recently in 2018 when they finished third.
The judges for the first-of-its-kind event in tandem with the PBR Global Cup will be: Jon “Poncho” Brady (MHA Nation; Newtown, North Dakota), Joe Bointy (Kiowa/Comanche/Arapaho; Lawrence, Kansas) and Lisa Meeches (Ojibwe; Winnipeg, Manitoba).
Texas Live!, the new sports, dining, and entertainment district in Arlington, will host the entirety of the free, three-day Fan Zone, also set to feature a stop on both the Miniature Bull Riders and Shorty Gorham’s American Freestyle Bullfighting cross-country tours.
The PBR Global Cup, the only nation vs. nation bull riding competition, will make its U.S. debut, and third stop, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on February 9-10, 2019. The new team tournament debuted in Edmonton, Alberta in November 2017 and then visited Sydney, Australia in June 2018.
The historic, all-Native American Team USA-Wolves contingent will be coached by Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho; Shoshone Bannock), with his roster of riders including: Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma; Cherokee), Stetson Lawrence (Williston, North Dakota; Chippewa and Sioux), Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Springs, Utah; Navajo), Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona; Navajo), Cannon Cravens (Porum Oklahoma; Cherokee), Justin Granger (Tuba City, Arizona; Navajo), Colten Jesse (Konawa, Oklahoma; Potawatomi) and alternate Dakota Louis (Browning, Montana; Northern Cheyenne and Black Feet).
Tickets for the 2019 WinStar World Casino & Resort PBR Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, are on sale now and start at just $10. They can be purchased at SeatGeek.com, PBR.com, or by calling PBRDirect at (800) 732-1727.
