Most people trying to imagine life as a security guard, posted outdoors, in rural Saskatchewan, in January, would probably think to themselves…brrrrrrr.
However, Key First Nation security guard, Jay-Cee Brass, knows a thing or two about how to warm things up. Brass was recently on duty ensuring pandemic safety regulations were met on his homeland reservation. When a co-worker tagged him in a video challenge, Brass stepped up…literally.
In fact, the 29 year-old responded by creating and posting his own Tik Tok video, leaning on some of the Metis-style dance skills he learned when he was just about ten years old. At that time, Brass was living in Northern B.C. with his parents. They signed him up for dance classes to learn the famous Red River Jig. Maybe it was the cold weather that triggered his memory, but the rapid foot stepping motions of those lessons from his childhood got Brass fired up at his security post.
The video, accompanied by the famously energetic Rednex tune, Cotton Eye Joe, also caught fire and was sailing past 129,000 views at the time Brass spoke on a phone interview with the Kamsack Times.
“I didn’t expect that kind of response,” said Brass from his home at Key First Nation. “But it was all good. It was a way to bring joy. It made people smile, brought laughter.”
The video became so popular, that CBC National News caught wind of what was going on.
“CBC heard about it and I did a Zoom interview with them,” said Brass. “Other First Nations starting making their own videos and it became a hashtag - #rezsecuritychallenge."
As for what happens next, Brass said he’s looking forward to making more videos and seeing what happens.
“Dancing is tough for me,” admitted Brass. “I was out of my comfort zone. But, I think it’s great we could all get out of our comfort zones and find some joy in these challenging times.”
