dantsikw

{{Short description|Dance props of the Kwakwaka'wakwa people}}

Image:Incident-Winter-Dance.jpg".]]

Dantsikw (power boards) are dance props of the First Nations Kwakwaka'wakwa people of British Columbia, in Canada.{{Cite journal |last=Knight |first=Emma |date=2017-01-01 |title=Unpacking the Museum Register |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/armw.2017.050105 |journal=Museum Worlds |volume=5 |issue=1 |doi=10.3167/armw.2017.050105 |issn=2049-6729|url-access=subscription }} These boards were employed during the Winter Ceremonials (Tseka).{{Cite journal |last=McDonald |first=James |date=September 1992 |title=Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. Aldona Jonaitis: Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. Aldona Jonaitis, ed. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1992.94.3.02a00840 |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=772–774 |doi=10.1525/aa.1992.94.3.02a00840 |issn=0002-7294|url-access=subscription }} In the Tuxwid ("One Who Traveled") warrior ceremony, the initiates would demonstrate supernatural powers granted by Winalagilis by summoning Dantsikw power boards from underground, and making them disappear again. This act commemorates Winalagalis' supernatural canoe that could travel underground.

Shamans might also use dantsikw to construct a representation of the Land-Otter canoe as a vehicle to travel to the spirit world.