Square dance grew from English, Scottish, and French quadrille and contredanse traditions brought by colonists and reshaped on the American frontier, where a "caller" narrating the steps let dances be led on the spot without formal training. That practical, democratic form suited itinerant rural communities, and was later adopted by dozens of states as an official symbol of American folk heritage.

Practiced across many Native nations, each with its own account of the dance's origin, the hoop dance is a storytelling and healing form: the circle represents the never-ending cycle of life, and as a dancer builds shapes like eagles and butterflies from an increasing number of hoops, the dance embodies balance, unity, and connection to the natural world.