Watching this Smoke Dance video from over the summer has me dreaming about wide open green spaces and warm weather!
The annual Marvin “Joe” Curry Veterans Pow Wow is held at the Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca, NY, during the 3rd weekend of July and hosts the Biggest Smoke Dance contest in North America. The pow wow is made possible with the hard work of the Iroquois Post 1587 as well as support from the Seneca Nation and the Seneca Allegany Casino.
And in case you don't know the namesake of the pow wow, Marvin “Joe” Curry was a member of the Seneca Nation's Snipe Clan and was born on the Cattaraugus Territory. He was a member of the Iroquois Post #1587 and served in several positions with them. He started serving in the military in 1950 with serving two tours of duty during the Korean War and also served in the Vietnam War. During his active duty in the Navy, he served on eight warships, including the U. S. S. Little Rock. He retired in 1997. Throughout his career, he earned numerous honors.
The pow wow plays host to many different dance contests, but the smoke dance is always the most popular. Here in this video, you'll see the Best Male vs Best Female Smoke Dance Special Sponsored by Heath & Nicole Hill. The fast footwork will definitely leave you breathless!
And if you still can't get enough smoke dancing, YouTube user Gaehnew Printup has some more amazing videos from his community.
Check out this tiebreaker video from the recent Ohi:yo' Powwow held at the Allegany Community Center in Salamanca, New York.
Nice! Make sure you check out the other videos on Gaehnew Printup's YouTube channel!
Running Doe
says:really enjoyed the smoke dancing, both men and women, it was very nice