Jasmine Pickner Bell, or Cunku Was’te Win’ meaning “Good Road Woman” in Dakota, shares the sacred hoop dance with the world. The two-time world champion, who is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe (also known as Hunkpati Oyate), began training with her father, the renowned hoop dancer Dallas Chief Eagle. Traditionally the hoop dance only allowed men to perform. Early on, Dallas recognized Jasmine’s natural strength, outspokenness, and spirit as a potential catalyst to restore the masculine/feminine balance within the sacred circle. Jasmine realized this calling when tragedy struck and her brother, also a talented hoop dancer, was killed in a car accident. In honor of his life, she performed in his place at the World Championship Hoop Dance Competition and won, becoming the first woman to hold the title and compete in a dress (up until that point, many female hoop dancers still performed in traditional male attire). The following year she defended her title. And now she is proud to say, more women have entered the field and wear their traditional dress and not men’s attire.

The hoop dance has been described as “the renewal of the collective human spirit.” It is a dance of healing, connectedness, and prayer. Even though Jasmine is in constant spinning motion while she dances, she never finds herself dizzy because she is aligned with a higher purpose. As she’s passing each hoop through her body, she says, “Your prayers are being connected and lifted up. You’re not only telling a story through the designs of the hoop dance, but you’re also praying and healing the people who are in need at that time.”

Learn more about Jasmine at https://www.womeninwyoming.com/jasmine-pickner-bell 

Jasmine's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hoopinitdakotastyle

Women in Wyoming

Jasmine Pickner Bell

Jasmine Pickner Bell | Two-time world champion hoop dancer and educator

Sara Wood is the owner and founder of Wyoming Heritage Grains, a direct to consumer regenerative farm and flour mill specializing in heirloom and heritage wheats, barleys, and ryes.

In 2017, Sara became curious about why more people are gluten intolerant and discovered heritage and heirloom grains, which are ancient, pre-hybridized varieties of wheat, oat, barley, and rye. Realizing how much biodiversity has been lost in our current food and seed chain supply through corporations like Monsanto, Sara went to work. She left her corporate job and convinced her father and uncle to completely transform their traditional farm, growing conventional crops like sugar beets, corn and beans, into a regenerative agricultural operation. They use several species of cover crops and companion crops, rotational grazing and no till practices to raise their heritage wheats, barleys, and rye. They are more self-sufficient because they don’t rely on added fertilizers and pesticides to manage their soil and crop health. The largest, and possibly riskiest transformation to the farm was ditching the traditional commodity market for a direct to consumer model. 

Biodiversity is life on earth. As the owner and founder of Wyoming Heritage Grains, Sara believes good food should be sustainably grown and nutrient dense, so life on the farm begins underground. Keeping food in her community and connecting people to where their food comes from and how it gets to their plate is of utmost importance. For Sara, an unexpected joy of becoming a farmer has been milling all her own flour. She’s the only commercial flour mill in Wyoming and sells White Sonora pancake mix, red fife berries, several types of flours and many more offerings. From seed to table, you’ll never find Sara’s yield shipped off to another state or country before returning to your plate. 

Sara is considered an outsider for doing things differently, but growing food holistically isn’t a new concept. Sara fields a lot of questions from other farmers who stop and wonder what she’s doing. This helps Sara on her quest to strengthen the agricultural community and empower more farmers to think outside the box. Ultimately she wants everyone to be more aware about what it takes to grow, process, and deliver food to market, while also cultivating connection between farmers, ranchers, other land stewards, and consumers. Sara is most inspired by nature and says, “Farming is an ecosystem. You can grow your garden like an ecosystem, plant your lawn like an ecosystem, or whatever you have available to you, and it’s all going to make a big impact. Everyone has a role to play, but if we don’t all work together, it’s not going to work.”

Learn more about Sara at WomeninWyoming.com/Sara-Wood

Sara Wood | Regenerative farmer, heirloom grain grower and flour miller

Throughout Wyoming’s history, its women have been brave, strong, and impactful. The mission of Women in Wyoming is to tell the inspiring stories of contemporary Wyoming women through art and media, celebrating their achievements, power, and learned wisdom. From artists to politicians, ranchers, authors, businesswomen, and community stewards, creator Lindsay Linton Buk highlights some of Wyoming’s changemakers, rule-breakers, and innovators through podcast interviews and portrait photography. By illuminating the power of women through art and media, Women in Wyoming is dedicated to pioneering a platform to promote the integrity, diversity, and profound legacy of Wyoming women and girls.

Jasmine Pickner Bell | Two-time world champion hoop dancer and educator

Women in Wyoming

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