For years Kevin Locke has been literally jumping through hoops to bring awareness to "the oneness we share as human beings."

"The hoop is a universal archetype, the most ubiquitous symbol that man has," said Locke, who is a member of the Lakota and Anishinabe tribes and an internationally known Native American hoop dancer and flute player.

"For many people the hoop represents harmony, peace, balance, unity, continuity - all those things," Locke said. "The hoop dance is... like a choreographed prayer to restore wholeness - not just physically but spiritually and collectively."

Using 28 hoops, representing "the roles and responsibilities that all human beings have within the hoops of life," Locke will perform the hoop dance, as well as traditional Lakota songs, at a kick-off celebration for Native American Awareness Month from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews St.

Sponsored by the Museum and Colorado State University's Native American Student Services Office, the event will also feature the CSU Ram Nation Drummers and a "live art" performance by artist Bunky Echo-Hawk. In addition to many children's activities, the Discovery Science Center will also present a Native American Skies Planetarium Show at 5:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m. at the Museum's Webster House.

For 30 years Locke, whose Lakota name is Tokeya Inajin (meaning "The First to Arise"), has made performing the traditional hoop dance and the indigenous North Plains flute - both of which were close to dying out - his focus, sticking closely to the traditional dances and songs.

"I'm an educator, not an artist," Locke insisted. "It's all about using folk art to accentuate universal themes; to show that we're all legitimate heirs to the riches of this world... The main thing is to affirm the oneness of the human family and the nobility of the human spirit."

-- by Stacy Nick