As Brenda Silva's feet hit the ground, it is as though rain is hitting a tin roof. The 400 or so metal cones, which are actually snuff can lids, attached to her dress hit each other and create a sound unique to the Jingle Dress.

Silva is from the Haliwa-Saponi tribe in North Carolina and dances the Jingle Dance competitively at reservations all over the country. Her husband, Ray Silva, is an artist from the Navajo of New Mexico and announces Brenda every time she dances. He is very knowledgeable on the subject of the dance.

"It started in the Ojibwa Nation," Ray said. "It is a dance of healing and prayer." He then went on to describe the dress, or regalia, saying that it was originally made from buckskin and shells. They used to be designed with 365 shells in seven rows to represent the days of the year and days of the week. Now the regalia are a little flashier, made from materials such as satin and snuff can lids rolled into cones. Brenda's is very bright, with pinks, blues, yellows, reds and sequins throughout the material.

"The vision of the dress came to an elder in a dream," Ray continued. "His daughter was sick, and he had taken her to many villages to get help for her. He finally returned to his home after many failures, and he fell asleep later that night, frustrated and worrying about his daughter."

It is said, according to Ray, that in this dream, he saw his daughter and four young women dancing around her wearing a very unusual type of dress. These four women are to represent the four seasons, four chambers of the heart and four races of humanity.

As the dream continued, the daughter was healed. The four women then proceeded to teach the elder how to make the dress, what song to sing and how to dance. When the elder woke up, he gathered all the materials needed and made the dresses. He then taught the song and dance to four young village women. The four young women danced around the elder's daughter and other sick village people. They were healed.

"The noise wards off all the bad spirits," Brenda said. "It represents water: nature in its purest form."

When watching Brenda dance, one might notice that she always has her left hand on her side. According to her husband, it is a gesture universal in the Jingle Dance. It is meant to represent the pain the elder's daughter was going through before the dance was done for her.

"The Jingle Dance had all but died off," Brenda said. "Now it's facing a national revival. These competitions I do are a big deal."

The dancers are judged on grace, footwork and their ability to stay in tune with the music. When the music stops, they must stop with both feet flat on the ground.

"It ain't easy," Brenda said, shaking her head. "This dress weighs about 50 pounds. And these ornaments," she said, gesturing toward her head, which is adorned with beads, feathers, and ribbons, "can be a pain. If anything falls off, I get disqualified. And I've had as little as 10 minutes to get ready." This feat seems impossible when looking at her regalia.

"It's a piece of artwork, unique to each dancer," Ray said about his wife's regalia. The beadwork, hair ribbons, moccasins, material, sequins and colors in Brenda's regalia won't be found on another dancer.

Ray and Brenda Silva were at UT on Oct. 16 for the Native American Student Association's Elder's Day. They were two of the demonstrators for the event.