- This topic has 5 voices and 8 replies.
-
Posts
-
Billahuk DreamingHawk for opening my eyes to powwow dancing.
My 3-year old daughter and I danced in our first inter-tribal at the Summer Solstice Powwow – here in Algonquin Territory (Ottawa) this past weekend. There were great arts and crafts and demonstrations.
It was my second powwow of the year after taking my mother to the Odawa Powwow last month.
We have a hotel booked for Sept 12-13 to attend the Akwesasne Powwow – in case anyone happens to be in this neck of the woods.
That is great, Mark. I hope y’all had a great time and you felt the power of the circle.
We spent the weekend camping and dancing at the 2nd Annual Veteran’s Powwow in Mount Airy, NC (non-competition) with our 6 year old granddaughter. We were SO, SO proud of her. She is a great little camper and a very precise and professional dancer. Sat she danced Fancy Shawl (Butterfly) and Sun she danced Women’s Traditional Buckskin in my braintan. We didn’t break camp until this morning (Mon) then we had breakfast at Aunt Bea’s and spent the day in downtown Mount Airy (home of Andy Griffith and inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry) It was a great weekend…. I hope my powwow high lasts until the Strong Sun powwow in 3 weeks.
MarcSnelling;38296 wrote: Billahuk DreamingHawk for opening my eyes to powwow dancing.
My 3-year old daughter and I danced in our first inter-tribal at the [URL=”http://www.ottawasummersolstice.ca/
How was it? What was your experience?
It was really my daughter who got me to do it. I was holding her up on my shoulders so she could see the competition dancers and she said ‘I want to dance too’. I explained that we couldn’t just go out and dance, that it was arranged ahead of time, but she didn’t really understand why. When they got to another part of the program they had the host drum (Black Bear) do an inter-tribal and invited others to join. To be honest I was still apprehensive, I’m not much of a dancer, I had no regalia. But my daughter was so enthusiastic and I thought about DreamingHawk’s posts and said to myself I need to do this.
Once I did start dancing it felt very right. I got over my uneasiness quickly, and felt very grateful to be allowed to be a part of it. I’ve been to a lot of powwows before, but had never danced before this one. The powwows I’ve been too are mostly big competition powwows – like Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, or ones with big prizes for casino tribes like Sycuan and Barona in San Diego County.
After our dance I was feeling good about myself for overcoming my apprehension and grateful to my daughter for getting me to do it. I told her she could pick out something she wanted from the vendors and she grabbed a racoon tail. I hooked it to the back of her shorts, and she was having a great time running around with it on. My wife says I’m a skinflint, but I was in such a good mood after the dance that I got her some feather earrings that I liked, and a bowl made by a Mohawk artist that she liked.
I also spied a pair of mocassins that looked like a perfect fit for me. Usually I don’t find much of anything that fits me – I wear size 13 shoes and need tall sizes in shirts, but these were perfect. They were handmade by a pair of sisters who were selling them and had beadwork bear paws on the vamps. They are the most comfortable mocassins I’ve ever owned. I put them on right away and didn’t take them off until we went home.
Later in the day they had another inter-tribal and my daughter and I danced again, in my new mocassins this time. More than anything it just felt ‘right’. It made me want to learn more about the dances and to work on regalia for me and my family to better represent our identity. In that vein, I got my wife a Mi’kmaq scarf – as she has Mi’kmaq ancestors on both her father’s and mother’s side. My daughter and I both have Métis sashes – one was gifted to me when I was born – that I have now given to her. The other was gifted to me after my wife became pregnant with our second daughter. Beyond that all I wear is a black bandana. But now I want to develop it more.
I was very enthusiastic to go to my first powwow, maybe 15 years ago, but felt like a bit of an outsider/tourist. Over the years that feeling has diminished and now going to powwows I feel more connected, and that I’m part of a community. Up here I don’t run into any Saponi folks, so I feel responsible to be a postiive, respectful representative of the Saponi community. I don’t claim any great knowledge, I’m just doing my best and learning as I go.
Dancing is just another way to remember and honor our ancestors.
For us, non-competition, 50 dancers, 3 drums, 20 venders, 2000 general public, 3 days is the perfect size powwow. Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes the spirit is stronger at some of the smaller gatherings.
I dance in our ceremonies during the year, as I am a member of the Piqua Shawnee. In January, I was diagnosed with a foot condition (darn Scotch-Irish Ralston genes!) called Ledderhose Disease which forms painful lumps on the bottom of my feet (I also have the hand version, Dupuytren’s Disease. No cure for either unfortunately 🙁 ). I had radiation treatment and was able to dance again in the Spring Bread ceremony, after spending a month generally not able to walk. We had a former tribal leader showing us the proper way to dance. If we had done the historical dance, kind of a sidestep with feet always in contact with the ground, I never would have made it, but what we did was still traditional Shawnee and very special. My husband was the head male dancer, but while I was asked to be head female for the day, we thought that since I was unsure if I could do all the dances, I better not.
I guess the Creator intended that I could dance again.
Techteach
MarcSnelling;38296 wrote: Billahuk DreamingHawk for opening my eyes to powwow dancing.
My 3-year old daughter and I danced in our first inter-tribal at the Summer Solstice Powwow – here in Algonquin Territory (Ottawa) this past weekend. There were great arts and crafts and demonstrations.
It was my second powwow of the year after taking my mother to the Odawa Powwow last month.
We have a hotel booked for Sept 12-13 to attend the Akwesasne Powwow – in case anyone happens to be in this neck of the woods.
How fun! Its great that you can get your daughter started out in the circle so young. I’ve only participated in the round dance a couple of times where we held hands in a big circle. I’m still a little shy about dancing. I’m working on a traditional dress that I hope to wear in the circle some day if I can learn the proper way to enter the circle. Sometimes I feel like in California you’re under a bit of scrutiny if you don’t look phenotypically “indian.” Anyway, I’m learning all that I can and I’ve made a few acquaintances from the dancers and vendors that I see at some of the pow wows here. Even though I don’t dance all the time, I still enjoy being there.
Good for you and your daughter! What does your mom think about the pow wows?
Syd;38330 wrote: How fun! Its great that you can get your daughter started out in the circle so young. I’ve only participated in the round dance a couple of times where we held hands in a big circle. I’m still a little shy about dancing. I’m working on a traditional dress that I hope to wear in the circle some day if I can learn the proper way to enter the circle. Sometimes I feel like in California you’re under a bit of scrutiny if you don’t look phenotypically “indian.” Anyway, I’m learning all that I can and I’ve made a few acquaintances from the dancers and vendors that I see at some of the pow wows here. Even though I don’t dance all the time, I still enjoy being there.
Good for you and your daughter! What does your mom think about the pow wows?
Syd, I hear you about California. That feeling is real. When I went to my first powwow in San Diego County I wanted to camp out. It seemed like that was reserved for competition dancers and families though, so I didn’t. That’s what made me feel like an outsider, but a welcome outsider. Those powwows I attended were smaller than the ideal size DreamingHawk mentions.
Many Kumeyaay in Southern California/Northern Mexico look like what the general public thinks is “Indian”. Saponi by comparison more easily fit into the”Black” or “White” stereotype. So scrutiny from the general public is real. At the same time, “Indians” who can’t pass for “Black” or “White” often look differently at someone who can. It seems to be more prevalent west of the Mississippi. On the other hand, the percentage of people who identify as mixed seems to increase as you go west.
There are a lot of mixed people in California based on my experience and reading. When I moved out there, myself and a friend were invited to help with a newspaper, Indian Voices. At the time I didn’t think about it, but looking back now I realize my friend and I look mixed to some people, especially others who identify as mixed. To others, who don’t think about that category existing, I just look “White” I guess.
In California I had a friend tell me “Why don’t you dye your hair black and move to the reservation?” That was 10 years ago, same time as my profile picture. He seemed to be saying it in response to the amount of time I spent going to powwows, actions, and other events. I worked on the reservations as well and he didn’t seem to understand why I would identify with, and want to spend more time with, that community.
My friend Rose who asked me to get involved with Indian Voices is mixed Seminole, and part of a community identifying as Black Indians. It was a community I felt less scrutiny in. Now I can look back and see how much I learned about identity and acceptance from there. By the time I moved to New Mexico five years later I didn’t notice the scrutiny much anymore. Which was probably because of my viewpoint more than anything.
The powwows and events I went to in NM were often much bigger than the ideal size mentioned above. The venue would be indoors at the UNM arena or similar. Lots of amazing regalia and dancing, but not a place I felt comfortable dancing. I prefer smaller crowds and to be outdoors (no matter the weather.) Even though I didn’t dance I learned a lot about dancing, especially in places like Gallup and Acoma. It got through to me why it was important but couldn’t see myself doing it yet.
Up here in Canada I feel like the mixed identity is slightly better understood by the general public. At powwows and events up here or in northern NY you see people wearing the Métis belt/sash. For men usually around the waist as a belt, and for women over the shoulder as a sash. Right away you know they identify as mixed and more of the general public have some basic understanding/respect of that identity.
There is still some of the same dynamic as the US though. When I joined my family with an Ontario Métis group (The Woodland Métis Tribe / OMAA) this year, a friend said to me “Are you going to go on welfare and become an alcoholic now?”. There is also controversy about who has the right to call themselves Métis. Some would argue that by me self-identifying that way I am taking away from the identity of the historic Métis Nation circa 1880s Red River Manitoba. It seems like, no matter how and where you identify as mixed, you end up having to educate people a lot.
My mother enjoyed the Odawa Powwow grand entrance and I think it was an eye-opening experience for her. She is a violinist by trade and the drum music was somewhat new to her. The powwows I go to are about the same age as me. They didn’t have them when my mother was a young adult. She was excited to see that there is one in Lebanon IN, where the old Marshall family farm was. One thing that stuck with me from this powwow was when the veterans were honored. Oka was included among the battles fought, like Vietnam. That is something that made me feel connected to everyone there.
The dances at the Summer Solstice Powwow had everybody going around the circle in their own way with the fancy dancers doing their dances around the outside. Some who joined the circle started in counter-clockwise and took a while to figure out the dance was going clockwise. It was a learning experience for many I think. The powwow announcer talked later about a time he had embarassed himself with an elder making a mistake when offering tobacco. It seemed he was putting people at ease about learning.
Back in March I did a round dance like you describe at the conclusion of an Idle No More action here concerning Bill C-51. Members of the local Quakers were part of the circle too (another group I’m connected to), the RCMP officers assigned to police the event were even welcomed in and danced for a time. It really felt like everyone who danced connected on some level.
TechTeach I really hope your path will not have too much pain. Must be very challenging if you are undergoing radiation treatment. My wife is a Radiation Therapist. Perhaps someday I’ll cross paths with you and some of the people I’ve learned so much from here, and learn about dancing. Who knows what the Creator has in store.
Dreaminghawk;38328 wrote: Dancing is just another way to remember and honor our ancestors.
For us, non-competition, 50 dancers, 3 drums, 20 venders, 2000 general public, 3 days is the perfect size powwow. Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes the spirit is stronger at some of the smaller gatherings.
I so agree! I love to go to the smaller powwow’s sometimes, it feels more at ease and nice conversations with folks, but at times bigger ones can be super exciting! We have “community night” at the Mid American All Indian Center every Wednesday evening and a drum group plays for a couple hours for beginners to learn or people to visit and catch up or like I usually do, sit and bead while the kids dance and wear themselves out! Its a great thing to have for people who would like to practice before entering into an inter-tribal dance at a powwow. Smaller is more cozy!
~suthainn
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
