Inside a Haskell Indian Nations University classroom Saturday afternoon, a group of Lawrence teachers stood shoulder to shoulder. First they did a slight shuffle with their left foot, then took a bigger step with their right one and circled around the room.

Soon upper bodies started moving to the beat as Johnny Smith stood in front singing in a high-pitched wail and beating a hand-held drum.

After about a minute, the singing and drumming stopped.

“See how it can make you feel winded?” Smith asked the group. “These are short songs, but you can really get into it. It can make your heart pump and your blood flow. And that is where exercise for diabetes comes into play.”

Smith, lead singer and drummer for The Red Lake Singers from Redby, Minn., was giving the lesson as part of a program to help teachers use Native American round dancing as a way to encourage students to exercise and keep Type 2 diabetes at bay. Native Americans are most at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, which can be controlled through healthy eating and regular exercise.

For several years the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases have been working on early intervention programs geared toward Native American children and schools.

Shelley Bointy is the project director of the Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools program at Haskell and organized Saturday’s event.

“It uses a lot of examples from our past as a way to develop healthy behaviors, healthy eating habits, healthy physical activity habits,” she said of the model that combines storytelling, singing and dancing.

Previously when Bointy taught round dances, teachers often wanted to know more than just the step and asked about the story behind them.

On Saturday, Bointy brought in the world-class singing group to explain round dancing’s rich history and cultural significance.

Along with Smith, six others sang and helped instruct. Most of the group had driven eight hours from Minnesota. Another member, Joe Bellanger, had made the trip from Warm Springs, Ore.

At 67, Smith had been singing with some of the members for decades. After a heart attack, Smith said his doctor told him to keep dancing. He also uses round dancing to help keep his own diabetes at bay.

“Shelley is trying to help make good health for our young people,” Smith said. “But (it works) for us old guys too.”