EDMONTON -- A dancer from Edmonton has become famous on TikTok, with over a million followers he is using the app to showcase his sense of humour and his culture.
For years James Jones was hoop dancing at pow wows, but in March, during quarantine, he decided to post a video of himself dancing on TikTok.
“I went to bed and woke up and the video had a million views and I had like a 100-thousand new followers overnight,” said Jones.
He goes by ‘@notoriouscree’ on the app and is considered a well-known creator, with over 1.1 million followers and dozens of videos.
“I always like to put a lot of humour into my videos and I think that’s one the reasons people seem to like it.”
Jones likes being able to use the platform to share his culture with viewers form around the world.
“Educating from our point of view, because a lot of times our stories are told but they’re not told by Indigenous people,” said Jones.
“I just have fun and I educate on what I want to educate on. If I want to dance I’ll dance. If I want to make a funny video, I’ll make a funny video and if people like it, that’s awesome.”
He said there is one misconception some viewers have though, that an enormous amount of followers means an enormous bank account.
“I do get a lot of comments like that, people think I’m living in a mansion, but no I’m definitely not rich,” laughed Jones.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Graham Neil
