Nishnawbe10

POW WOW

I feel a great cultural event is the pow wow. The word pow wow was first an

Algonquin word. It was first pronounced Pau-wau in Algonquin lanuage. Pau-Wau first

meant a gathering of spiritual leaders. I was told that the Europeans misunderstood the

word and went around calling all the gatherings of the Native American Indian people

and their ceremonies Pow Wows. Today a Pow Wow is a cultural event, which is held in

many different places. The two biggest places they are held are at Universities and at fair

grounds.


A pow wow today is where many people gather together. The Native American

Indians may dance, sing, drum, sell or maybe just come to enjoy the event. A pow wow

is suppose to be a fun and enjoyable event for anyone to go to. During an intertribal song

anyone can dance even if someone is not Native American Indian or in regalia. Someone

should never call what a Native American Indian wears a costume. The reason I say that

is because many days and even years went into making their regalia. On an estimate I

would say that when someone is done making their regalia it is worth around 500 through

1,000 dallars. This is why someone should not call regalia a costume. Someone in the

public should also not try to touch someone’s regalia without asking the person before

hand. If someone wants wanted to take a picture they should always remember to ask

before the picture is taken. In my hunka family they believe when someone takes their

picture they are also taking part of their spirit away. A hunka family is an adopted

family.

The drum is the heart of the Pow Wow. Without the drum there would be no Pow

Wow. Usually there is many drums at a pow wow about 4 or more. There has to be four

men that sit on each drum, so each direction is covered. The four directions are West,

East, South and North. Every drum usually takes turns playing. I have been to a couple

of Pow Wows where all the drums actually played together, but usually the public will

see them play all separate. Men are suppose to be the only drummers, because when the

drum is being played it is honoring the woman. However, some woman are going against

this custume and playing the drum anyways. Women usually sing behind their husband,

brother or maybe even some other relative. In the old days woman were suppose to stand

behind the men and be a look out for anything that might come up behind them that

might harm any of them. Most woman are suppose to wear a shawl around their

shoulders when they sing. A shawl is about 6 yards of material and has fringes at the

ends. The fringes are put on by hand; this usually takes about two days non-stop to

finish. The men dress in whatever they feel comfortable in. When some one is around

the drum they should not curse. They should also be clean of alcohol and drugs. The

drum as soon as it is made has a spirit in the heart of it. We call this spirit the grandfather

spirit.


At pow wows some people dance to celebrate thanks to the Creator. Another

reason some people dance is to honor those that have fought for are freedom in the

United States of America. The overall reason is for fun or at a competition pow wow for

money to see who is the best at a certain dance. There are three basic dances that men
usually dance. The first dance is called men’s traditional dance. This is the oldest type

of dance for men. Their regalia are usually made of cotton cloth or hide. The traditional

men usually wear a roach and also a bustle. The rest of the regalia are usually unique to

the person. The second type of dance is the grass dance. These dancers use to be the first

dancers at pow wows to dance to stomp on the grass to make the grass flat for the rest of

the dancers. Their regalia’s are usually very colorful and bright, which is made up of alot

of fringe. The third type of dance is the men’s fancy dance. This is the newest type of

dance that the men have done. Their regalia is usually made of bright colors and two

bustles. One of these bustles is worn around the neck and the other is worn in the back.

There are also three different types of dances for the woman. The first is woman’s

traditional dance. Their regalia are made either of cotton cloth or hide. When these

woman dance their feet never leave the ground completely, which shows their closeness

to mother earth. The second type of dancing is the Woman’s Jingle Dress. An Ojibwa

woman had a dream many years ago to make the dress to help heal people. The dress is

made of cloth and 365 cones. A woman must have a dance and go through a ceremony to

wear this dress. Each day a cone is put on the dress and a prayer was said with each cone

that is on the dress. When a jingle dress dancer dances it is said that the prayers are

released and sent to the Great Spirit to be heard. The third type of dancing for woman is

the Woman’s Fancy Shawl. These women usually wear a shawl, high cut moccasins, and

a bright colored rosette on their back. I was told that these woman and their shawls

represent the transition from a cocoon to a butterfly.


I feel that the nature of this cultural event shows the togetherness of are people. If

each person did not come together to make this possible there would be nothing. It is

great events in are community, that anyone can go to. It is for the whole family. No

matter your race, age or social status you are welcome to come enjoy with the Native

American Indians. If some one is going to go to a pow wow they should not worry about

anything. At different times they have round dances and 49ers, which are for couples.

These dance are done by making a circle and doing faries things that the lead dancers of

the pow wow do. We all follow what the person in front of us has done. I hope more

people would come enjoy a pow wow with all of us. We are all happy to see new

comers.

Nooksak

That was avery well thopught and well put post and it is siomthing that we all should keep ni mind.

Nishnawbe10

cool eassy

Trsa

what a wonderful post for a new comer like myself.. thank you for the time you put into providing the information i was looking for... at the last pow wow i attended a person whom has seen me the last three weekends asked why i dont dance... my response was, since I am new and I do not know tradition or proper ettiquite i feel I should not dance since I once read that a woman "should" to be in a skirt and either hold or wear a shawl- i do not want to be disrespectful so until i at minimum have a shawl I feel I should be patient and not enter the arena ...any comments on this???

EducatedNdN

Powwows are a joke to all involved. A time for NdNs to be NdN for the day or weekend. A time for beautiful NdN women to fall into the trap of falling for a dancer or drummer just because she has low self-esteem. A powwow is a time for the NdN brothers to abuse their status as a dancer or drummer to get their weekend snags on with our NdN women who deserve so much more. A powwow is a time for the NdN people to fall victim to Western train of thought and "get rich" quick in a weekend and if you don't win then to backstab against your "friends" if they beat you out. I don't attend powwows for all these reasons.

oneidaNmenom

Algonquin ~~>thats the language the Menominess speak

Granny MocStomper

Wow. Who pizzed in your cheerios? :Chatter

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I'm not having hot flashes, I'm having power surges!!

ndnkidz_5

WOW.....you Ok bro? Are you a little jaded or what. Hey go get some couseling before you reck this post.

peekaboo

EDGE-UCATEDNDN MUST HAVE GOTTEN OUT DANCED AT THE POWWOWS, HIS NDN WOMAN MUST OF DUMPED HIM FOR SOMEONE THAT IS A BETTER DANCER OR SINGER, AND NOW HATES THE POWWOW WORLD FOR NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH. AND HAS TO THROW IN HIS ANGRY VIEWS IN THE INTERNET POWWOW SCENE. BEING LAKOTA I BET HE ATTENDS ALL THE SUNDANCES THOUGH ONCE A YEAR AND BEEZ NDN FOR A WEEK. AYE!

__________________
"Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

Wakalapi

Well, there ARE SOME truths to what was said here .... althought the paintbrush used could recolor the side of a barn in a single stroke, if you catch my drift. The exceptions are, of course, those who dance and/or sing for the right reasons. We need to be seeing that more and more, IMHO.

EducatedNdN may have come across sounding a little caustic TO SOME, but there IS A POINT here.

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"Friends don't let friends drink decaf..."

pwsongwriter

Dude sounds like you lost your wiyah to the powwow circuit. Hang in there theres others.

comanche_butterfli

I see no good or point in what EducatedNdN wrote......that is very very disrespectful to all powwow people young and old......i have grown up in tha powwow arena and will alwayz be in it......HEY EDUCATED NDN YOUR ON POWWOWS.COM IF YOU DONT LIKE POWWOWS THEN DONT GET ON A WEB SITE THAT TALKS NOTHIN ABOUT POWWOWS...... I GUESS YOUR NOT AS EDUCATED AS YOU THINK :Chatter :Chatter :Chatter

Speedy™

I agree there is some truth to what was said, but I don't believe its as bad as all that. I do believe some powwows are way to commercial, too much emphasis on money and not enough on the meaning. I also get tired of seeing "alter-natives" selling their wannabe crap here and there.

But the powwow is a great place to reconnect, to see buds you haven't talked to for a long time, meet new people, and expirience new things. There is bad and good in everything. It just depends on what you are looking for or allow yourself to see.

ndnkidz_5