Six Native American Nations Represented on the 2024 OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® Float, Woven Together: The Dance of Life

Published a year ago via Business Wire

The Float Features Cultural Traditions and Elements of the Hopi Pueblo Nation

Authentic Hopi Tribe Members to Perform Butterfly Dance on the OneLegacy Donate Life Float

The 2024 OneLegacy Donate Life float, Woven Together: The Dance of Life will honor six Native American nations and their rich cultural heritage on New Year’s Day. One organ recipient and four life-giving donors will be honored on the float.

The 2024 OneLegacy Donate Life float showcases the culture of the Hopi tribe, native to the American Southwest, and it pays homage to the first inhabitants of North America, honoring their rich ancestry and traditions. For many tribes, dancing was an important method of communication, and the history of Native American dance is rich and meaningful. For the Hopi people, corn is a sacred plant as it is a vital part of their diet and corn husks were widely used to create sleeping mats and baskets among other everyday needs.

During the month of August, the Hopi Butterfly Dance is held to give thanks for the corn produced. Like most Hopi ceremonies, the Butterfly Dance is a petition for rain, good health and long life for all living things. The dance also recognizes the butterfly for its beauty and its contribution in pollinating plant life. Up to a hundred or more pairs of dancers will fill the village mesa to perform the dance. The village men provide the prayer songs for the dance. Everyone dances lightly, keeping time with the drumbeat while the dancers’ hand movements symbolize the song’s meaning.

“The OneLegacy Donate Life Float community appreciates the Hopi community’s partnership in sharing their tradition of the Butterfly Dance, celebrating the life-giving power of the butterfly that pollinates the corn, their staple food, as well as their traditional basketry that holds that bounty for sharing with their community,” said Tom Mone, Chairman of the OneLegacy Donate Life float committee and Chief External Affairs Officer at OneLegacy. “There has seldom been a better metaphor for the life-giving power of organ donation and transplantation that has long been symbolized by the metamorphosis of the butterfly…of donors and families sharing life with transplant recipients…who are forever grateful.”

In addition to honorees who are connected to the Life-giving power of organ, eye and tissue donation, the OneLegacy Donate Life float will feature a youth group of Hopi Tribal members, who will perform the ceremonial Butterfly Dance. Hopi Tribal Leaders Timothy Nuvangyaoma and Craig Andrews will sing the prayer songs for the dance.

“We are very honored and proud to have our culture represented on the 2024 OneLegacy Donate Life float,” said Timothy Nuvangyaoma, Chairman of the Hopi Tribe. “The Butterfly Dance is just one of the many beautiful and spectacular ceremonial dances of the Hopi tribe, and we look forward to performing this dance in front of millions of people on New Year’s Day during the Rose Parade.”

Five additional Native American Nations are represented on the 2024 OneLegacy Donate Life float through their honorees, including:

  • Pueblo de San Ildefonso Nation – Cheryl “Renee” Roybal, heart recipient – Unbeknown to doctors and herself, Renee became ill and discovered her heart was enlarged. She was then placed on the heart transplant list and was blessed to receive a heart on October 10, 2002, from an 11-year-old girl. Today Renee is enjoying life with her family and sharing her knowledge of the importance of organ donation at various events in Northern New Mexico and in her local Native American communities.
  • Choctaw Nation - Linda Dean, cornea and tissue donor – Linda had a deep commitment to her tribe, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She was a talented and well-loved hairdresser for twenty years. However, a heart condition left Linda unable to continue her career in cosmetology, and she began a new career path in medical records with the Chickasaw Nation. Even in her passing, Linda continues to bring joy to those around her through her donation legacy. Linda donated cornea and tissue to help improve the lives of many others.
  • Colville Nation - Marty Palmanteer, cornea and tissue donor – A member of the Colville Tribe, and a veteran of the United States Air Force, Marty was selected as the Washington State Volleyball Official of the Year and the Okanogan County Basketball Official of the Year. When he was only 50, he experienced a life-ending brain hemorrhage. Marty donated his kidneys, giving the gift of life to two different families. Marty’s sister and brother in law, who is also a liver transplant recipient, are OneLegacy Ambassadors, and they honor his memory by volunteering their time.
  • Navajo Nation - Frederic Jones, organ and corneas donor – Frederick Jones learned his sister, Miceale, needed a kidney. His family, with a heart for service, discussed donation but felt conviction toward the Navajo traditions. When a deceased donor came through for Miceale, Frederick signed up to be an organ donor. At twenty-seven years old, Frederick suffered irreversible head trauma from a car accident. Upon departing from Frederick's physical body, his family prayed and spoke over his body and organs, thanking them for serving him in this material world with a wish they would serve the next person. Frederick donated his liver, heart, pancreas, and corneas.
  • Kickapoo Nation – Joseph John Vargas, cornea donor – John's mother was Native American, and his father was Hispanic. John met his wife on the Yakima Reservation in Washington. She was a registered Potawatomi Native. They were married and started a family: two boys, Joe and David, and a daughter, Jolene. During their life, two of John's three children suffered from kidney disease and had five kidney transplants between the two of them. On January 12, 2000, John passed away suddenly from pneumonia. John's Decision to become a donor is not what is usually done in the Native American culture. After John's cornea donation, he inspired his nieces and nephews to sign up to become registered organ, eye, and tissue donors.

The need for lifesaving organ transplants is especially high among communities of color, and Native Americans suffer from 5 times the rate of liver failure, 2 times the rate of kidney failure, and are 1 ½ times more likely to suffer heart disease than the general population. “These medical conditions too often require a lifesaving transplant,” adds Tom Mone. “Ideally this year’s float will inspire us all to register as a donor…to share the gift of life. We are so grateful to showcase the life-saving power or organ, eye and tissue donation among Native American nations and we hope to continue inspiring these and all communities.”

The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade float is produced by OneLegacy and is made possible thanks to dozens of sponsoring donation, transplant, healthcare, and family care organizations and individuals who help make donation and transplantation possible across the country.

As the world’s most visible campaign to inspire organ, eye and tissue donation, The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® float inspires viewers to help the over one million people in need of organ, eye or tissue transplants each year. Register today to become an organ, eye or tissue donor by visiting www.onelegacy.org/register.

About the Pasadena Tournament of Roses® and Rose Parade® presented by Honda

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses® is a volunteer organization that hosts America’s New Year Celebration® with the Rose Parade® presented by Honda, the Rose Bowl Game® presented by Prudential and a variety of accompanying events. The Association’s 935 Members supply more than 80,000 volunteer hours, which will drive the success of the 135th Rose Parade, themed “Celebrating a World of Music” on Monday, January 1, 2024, followed by the CFP Semifinal at the 110th Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential. Visit www.tournamentofroses.com, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and YouTube.

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