'It means the world to me': B.C. woman reunited with stolen ceremonial dance regalia

After a two-month search, a B.C. woman has beenreunited with her ceremonial dance regaliathanks to help from the community in Prince George, B.C.

Randi Gardypie, who isBeardy'sandOkemasis'Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, was working in northern B.C. when her truck was broken into in May.

Gardypie's handmade jingle dress, beadwork, vest, feathers and sewing machine were taken.

"It was complete devastation, I felt like I got hit with a ton of bricks," shesaid.

Gardypie was lost without the one-of-a-kind regaliawhich took years to make, she said, and gave up circle dancingthis summer because the items are integral to the ceremonies.

"It symbolizes who they [dancers] are, and where they're from, and theirancestral lineage,"said Gardypie.

The kindness of strangers

A few days after the theft, Gardypie's jingle dress was found by a Prince George man.

Keith LaRiviere part of the Cree First Nation,was throwing something away and noticed a jingle dress at the bottom of a dumpster, so he jumped in and pulled it out.

"I know the importance of that, what it means to a person," LaRivieresaid.

Hesaw a post circulating on social media about the missing items andstarted putting up posters around town in the hopes of having the other items returned.

"That's what you do, you go to help. If you see someone in this kind of distress and you're a part of this circle, you're a native person, and this is what you do," said LaRiviere.

This week, a family found a bin containing most ofGardypie'sremaining gear in their shed and called the number on the poster.

Gardypie says she couldn't believeso much of her dance regalia had been found.

"It means the world to me," said Gardypie. "I'm on edge, I'm super excited."

RCMPsaid the theft was reported to them but there were no leads and, now that the items have been found, the file is closed.

With files from CBC'sRadio West