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Mike Little Deer Tafoya danced through life (Gazette, The [Colorado Springs], Aug 6, 2001 by Becca Blond Mike Little Deer Tafoya, a man who dedicated his life to keeping his American Indian heritage alive, died Saturday August 4th. He was 53. A well-known performer, Little Deer, as he was known in the Colorado Springs area, and his family are best known along the Front Range as dancers at the Cliff Dwellings Museum in Manitou Springs. Five members of the Tafoya family have performed at the Cliff Dwellings and at other sites throughout the area. Little Deer was born on a reservation in New Mexico, but grew up in the Los Angeles area after his family was moved there under the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation program. He started traveling and performing at a young age. By age 2, he was dancing at the Cliff Dwellings with his grandfather, Chief Little Deer, then the Indian director of the tourist attraction. The family has been in the Pikes Peak region since 1885. In 1961, the Tafoya family was featured on the tourist site's postcards. A black and white photo showed the dance troupe in various regal poses; in the background a sign said "Please Tip Indians for Pictures." By 1963, the postcard was in color and Little Deer's dancing career was as bright as his Indian dress. At 13, he was the youngest dancer at Disneyland. He traveled around the world five times as a goodwill ambassador for the State Department. When his grandfather died in 1972, Little Deer returned to take over as Indian director at the Cliff Dwellings. "Mike spent his life sharing our people's songs and dances," his brother Dennis Tafoya said. "He was a good Indian ambassador to the non-Indian community." Dennis Tafoya said it has been a number of years since his brother last danced, but he spent his later years explaining the dances and the meaning behind them to visitors at the Cliff Dwellings. "Dancing was his life," Dennis Tafoya said. "Whether he was performing at the Cliff Dwellings or coming home to the Santa Clara Pueblo (in New Mexico)... it all revolved around Indian people and sharing our traditions with non-Indian people." Copyright (C)2001 Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

As of: Oct 19, 2007