Rocky Patrick...

So I asked…so I asked the boys how to dance. We were in dorm, getting ready for a dance this one time. Also in the washroom doing our hair. Dabbing it down with Brylcream then running a comb through it until we got it just where we wanted it. Different boys had different styles.

And that’s when I told them I didn’t know how to dance. I told them I never ever danced before. I guess I was 11. And so…and so…they said just move up and down….and make sure you move your legs. You have to move your legs to the music….back and forth. This way and that way.

This would have been in about 1967 when I was 11.

‘Just do what Rocky Patrick does.’

Someone said that. They told me to just copy Rocky Patrick. ‘Rocky’s a good dancer,’ they said.

So…so…we get to the dance...down at the showhall. And that’s when I decide…okay….it’s time to do this. I have to learn somehow and probably the best way is to just get onto the dance floor. And copy Rocky Patrick.

So I ask my sister to dance. My sister Sharon who is older’n me. And that’s how I learn to dance.

By copying Rocky Patrick.

Lejac Indian Residential School organized several dances for its students throughout the school year. Usually one in the fall and one before Christmas, then again at Easter before everyone went home for the holidays and of course at year end before everyone left for the summer.

And also on special occasions like when the students from Williams Lake came to Lejac for the weekend for games or just to visit.