Pow wows are often referred to as a homecoming. A time to gather with family, friends and community to celebrate a special occasion – such as spring and the renewed life it brings – with drumming, feasts, dancing, give-a-ways and camaraderie. What better place to celebrate a pow wow than an American Indian college with students who live and study diverse cultures and traditions.
The San Juan College Contest Powwow held April 4 in Farmington, N.M. attracts about 9,000 visitors annually. The college itself has a student population of about 10,000, representing more than 120 Indian nations from Alaska to the tip of Florida. The pow wow coincides with Farmington’s Apple Blossom Days, offering additional activities for those attending both events.
Darrell Morris, Native American Center director at San Juan College, said, “The pow wow is good for retention services and to recruit students to attend the growing college while offering one of the lowest tuition rates in the country.” Farmington is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico near the border of Colorado, Arizona and Utah.
“The positive relationship we have with the community includes the mayor of Farmington, who is one of the gourd dancers in the pow wow. By giving back to the community with the pow wow we are sharing cultural awareness and getting the community involved in sponsorship – such as BHP Oil Company and Arizona Public Service, among others, who have donated money to the pow wow fund,” Morris said.
The one-day event costs about $9,000 and is held at McGee Park Coliseum with Gourd Dancing at 10 a.m. and Grand Entry at 1 and 7 p.m. For more information call San Juan College at (505) 566-3321.
Some American Indian communities still feel the effects of subtle prejudice. That is the case with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Cass Lake, Minn., according to Sharon Kotla, vice president of operations at Leech Lake Tribal College.
Their traditional pow wow is held the first weekend in April and is sponsored by the student services organization and the chair of the Ojibwe language program. “Everyone is eager to start attending pow wows this year and are looking forward to the beginning of the season. Last year we had a good turnout, about 700 people in attendance and about 200 dancers,” she said.
“Leech Lake Reservation coexists with their non-Native population. It has gotten better over the years, but there are still underlying animosities that we deal with on a daily basis. I believe the non-Native community coexists with us in the spirit of ‘We know you are there and have to live with you day-to-day.’
“Native people have been so exposed to the subtle prejudice going on here still on a daily basis that we are kind of thick-skinned; we just go about our business,” Kotla said. “When we approach local vendors for donations they do help us. Not a lot, but enough to help us do our functions. Last year’s pow wow cost about $15,000 to put on.”
It is held on the reservation at the local high school which allows the use of its kitchen, gymnasium and atrium for free. The one-day event runs from noon to 11 p.m. “I think that just to be there and hear the drums and see the elders dancing and the camaraderie that goes on makes you feel really valued. To hear the language spoken is real nice also. The pow wow helps bring people together,” she said.
For more information call (218) 335-4277.
Pawnee Nation College in Pawnee, Okla. hosts a fall pow wow every November. Alicia Chaino-Ahkeahbo, Pawnee Nation College princess, said fundraising is underway for this year’s pow wow. “We solicit donations and hold Indian taco, soup and frybread dinners. We are also planning some 50/50 raffles and an auction. We write letters to banks, organizations and tribes around the region asking for donations. Last year’s pow wow received a donation from the Pawnee National Bank of $1,500.”
In the spirit of community involvement, “We had students from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. travel eight hours to come here and support our pow wow. They are planning to attend this year’s as well. The students help us with the food vendors, raffle tickets and wherever help is needed. They also donated $500 to our student organization for the pow wow.
“We like to encourage our high school students to come to the pow wow. We want to be a good example and a positive influence so we can recruit high school students to come to college here. To me, it is an honor and privilege to be a part of this organization, as well as a representative of the college as a princess. I want to help my Indian people out in the best way I can.”
For more information call Andrew Gray at (918) 762-3343.
On the east coast spring is greeted at Commonwealth College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with an April pow wow.
“Amherst is a funny town because the university is the town. It is a small college town, and for the most part, everybody that lives in the community, with very little exception, is involved with the university,” said Kathleen A. Brown-Perez, assistant professor.
“We have been working to bring back the pow wow which we haven’t had since 2006 due to funding issues,” said Jean Forward, senior lecturer in anthropology and director of the certificate program in Native American Studies. “This year the pow wow is being held in conjunction with a symposium the university is sponsoring – Indigenous People’s Urban Cultural Landscapes and Social Justice.”
The symposium is April 23 – 24 and the pow wow April 25 – 26. “The Native community within the university is very supportive and involved. There isn’t a lot on the eastern seaboard as far as pow wows,” Forward said. “We have been building relationships for decades with the local communities. We also get a lot of support from some of the people in administration which, considering the budget cuts right now, is pretty remarkable that they have committed funding to this
symposium and pow wow. We are really excited about putting this together for both Native peoples and non-Native peoples to learn about.”
For more information, call Forward at (413) 545-2483.
Although not a college pow wow, the Rendezvous at the Straits Powwow in St. Ignace, Mich. is a classic example of what can happen when communities work together. Pow wow Coordinator Darryl Brown, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, presented his idea for a historical pow wow to the Special Events Committee in St. Ignace. The idea gained approval and was scheduled to coincide with the rendezvous celebrations – live re-enactments of historical events, people and how they lived from 1690 to 1812.
The pow wow is held Aug. 28 – 30 at the Father Marquette Memorial Park. “It is unique in that we are combining the triangle of history to include the French, Jesuits and American Indians,” Brown said. “The French developed a trading center at the Straits of Mackinac with the Indians, and the Catholic Church established a mission there. By telling the complete history we are telling the history of not just the American Indian, but the French traders and Jesuit missions.
“The pow wow has been overwhelmingly successful and educational – it’s a good, positive family experience. There is always something going on in addition to the pow wow. The living historians and re-enactments are very accurate in the representations of their dress, lifestyle and historically accurate lodges. It is like walking back in time, going back in history.”
Another unique element about the pow wow is the genealogical conference. “People come who are trying to trace their ancestry to see if they have a connection to French or American Indian history. By attending the conference they get a chance to look at records collected by different families and are encouraged to make copies to complete their own research.”
Community involvement and support for American Indian pow wows – for the most part – is alive and well in today’s fast-paced world. For those not familiar with Indian culture, pow wows are a good place to start. For American Indians – pow wows are a celebration and a reminder of the importance of culture, heritage and way of life.
