16 August 2005

National Powwow Celebrates American Indian Customs

Performers move audiences with song, dance during three-day event

By Katie Xiao
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Hundreds of American Indians from throughout the Western Hemisphere gathered at the second annual National Powwow in Washington August 12-14 to celebrate their heritage and to share with others knowledge about their cultures.

The event was held at the MCI Center, a venue usually used for such major sports events as professional basketball and hockey and for concerts featuring popular performers. It was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution's National American Indian Museum (NMAI). The first annual powwow was held in 2004 in conjunction with the opening of the five-level museum, which is close to the U.S. Capitol building.

Congress passed legislation to create the NMAI in 1989.The museum’s mission is to help preserve and exhibit the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of indigenous peoples from throughout Western Hemisphere. One of its objectives is to increase the public’s knowledge of American Indian culture, while allowing hundreds of tribal nations and American Indians of all ages to celebrate centuries of their history and culture.

The term “powwow,” integrated into English from the Narrangansett language, originally referred to American Indian healing ceremonies. The Narrangansett are an indigenous people originally from the northeastern part of the United States. Over time, the word powwow evolved to mean a social event that features group singing and dancing by men, women, and children. Today, the powwow serves as a vehicle for individuals and communities to express their identity, preserve their culture and show their pride.

Throughout the three days of the powwow, dancers in traditional regalia moved gracefully across the floor of the arena in time with beating drums. Drum groups, competing against one another, provided the pulsating and thunderous beats.

Ho-Chunk American Indian Charles Hindsley traveled from Wisconsin to compete in the northern traditional dance portion of the powwow with his son. Wearing a majestic, feathered headpiece on top of a forehead painted the color of red clay, Hindsley said that he is proud of what he does and hoped to dazzle judges with his originality and style. Hindsley has danced for 40 years.

Most of the dancers at the event were experienced and looking to impress judges with their distinctive styles. Autumn Zotigh, a member of the Kiowa and Sioux tribes, has been dancing for more than 10 years and now dances competitively almost every two weeks because she says it is fun.

In American Indian history, men have participated in ceremonial powwows for much longer than women. The fancy shawl dance, the category in which Zotigh competed, began in the mid 1900s in North Dakota. Prior to that, women were not allowed to dance in a public arena.

Machel Monenerkit, a member of the American Indian Comanche nation and one of the event organizers, said that American Indians as a group have not always been allowed to sing and dance freely. Many American Indian customs and traditions had only been communicated through the generations by the spoken word; being allowed to sing and dance in a public setting represents a significant step forward for American Indians, she said.

Nonetheless, Monenerkit said, American Indians are taking a chance by agreeing to demonstrate their authentic traditions in front of large audiences. “Cultural integrity can be lost” when American Indian traditions are available for popular consumption, she explained, criticizing powwows where individuals who are not American Indians have replicated traditional American Indian attire and routines without obtaining consent.

“Everybody thinks they can do this now, [but] they need to know the significance,” said Monenerkit. “People sometimes forget that there are reasons for a particular outfit, reasons for a certain dance.”

Laura Ford and JoeAnne Gaunt Pellini, two sisters who traveled from Maryland to see the event, were captivated by the Indian dress, drums and spiritual quality of the performance. “I’m very moved by the music and the performance,” Pellini said, adding that she wanted to do more research on the different outfits she saw and their role in American Indian culture.

NMAI president Richard West and former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell also attended the event, in the company of many American Indian veterans who were honored for their contributions at ceremonial processions held during the event.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)