Have You Ever Gone to a Pow Wow?
@Ruby3881 (1963)
Canada
May 26, 2016 9:16pm CST
Pow Wow is a traditional gathering held among Indigenous peoples of North America. It's both a celebration and a sacred occasion. It's also a time for people to show off their fine regalia, much of which has been stitched and decorated by hand.
Over the Victoria Day long weekend my family attended a small Pow Wow close to home. It was the first time I'd been to Pow Wow in about 25 years, and I'm so glad we went! It was held in a gym, so the drumming was contained. It was so loud that you could just feel the rhythm going right through your bones. What an incredible experience!
Two of my daughters had regalia made with the help of a family friend. They worked for days and days, punching holes into their moccasin leather with an awl and stitching meters and meters of ribbon onto shawls and skirts. Even with all this work done, their regalia was very plain next to some of the other dancers. This is something they'll keep and continue to add to, over the coming years.
I posted some photos of them on my blog. you can see them at:
Image mine, made from a public domain photo by Unsplash
For Wordless Wednesday this week, I decided to share a couple of photos taken at the Pow Wow hosted by the Lower Kootenay Band over the May long weekend. Regalia by MamaOzzy and Granny, photos feat…
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14 responses
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
27 May 16
Were they bigger ones or small ones, @paigea? I've been to a really small one that was hosted by the Native Friendship Center in Montreal, and really loved that one because the Elders took the time to teach the dances and explain some of the customs. But there were really few people dancing, and almost no drummers to play.
The biggest one I've ever been to was at Kahnawake, the summer after the Oka Crisis. It wasn't as large as some that I've heard about, but it was really difficult to see the dancers for the crowd. This one was sort of a "Goldilocks" of Pow Wows: just big enough to be interesting, but small enough that we could see what was going on.
@paigea (36315)
• Canada
27 May 16
@Ruby3881 the ones I have been to had a couple of hundred dancers I am guessing, and hand games, vendors, people camping and went on for three days. I only went for a couple of hours though. I am sure they are not as big as the one in Montreal.
And I have taken classes to some school powwows. They are smaller but still have a grand entry and several different competitions.
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@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
27 May 16
@paigea To be honest, the big one probably had more spectators than dancers! And I think we had a lot more drumming teams at our local Pow Wow. It was also a three-day affair, with a youth event on the Friday and several Grand Entry times over the course of both Friday and Saturday.
A lot of folks didn't camp this year, as the school grounds have just been resodded after the building of an addition. I think most were staying with family or in local motels and hotels. It's a good thing too, because it poured cats and dogs Saturday and Sunday night!
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@puddleglum (1380)
• United States
27 May 16
The pow wow sounds very interesting. I like the idea of having it inside a gym.
I am one-half Native American and have been to several pow wows of various sizes. The most interesting one was in Hawaii. It was multi-tribal, unlike the ones I had attended prior to that, which had mostly involved only one or two tribes.
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@puddleglum (1380)
• United States
27 May 16
@Ruby3881 It seems like that was a nice, diverse gathering also, then. I'm sure you're right about the summer circuit. It's probably a popular time for these events. It's the same way in the Southern/Midwest region of the US.
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@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
27 May 16
That sounds like a really interesting event! Our local Pow Wow was mostly people from nations in BC, Alberta, and several neighbouring US States. Mind you, there are a good many nations in this region.
We didn't get much chance to talk to the drummers or dancers, as we arrived during supper when they were bustling around. So I don't know how many different nations were represented. It seemed a lot of the people knew each other, though. I suspect a lot of them do the Pow Wow circuit over the summer.
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@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
20 Jul 16
Haven't been to a pow wow. I bet it is quite an experience.
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
27 May 16
Looks like a very beautiful cultural event. Your daughters (are they on the photo?) looks so pretty too in their costumes.
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@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
27 May 16
Yes, the two girls posing together in the photos on the blog are my oldest and youngest daughters. They did a lot of the work to make the regalia, and we're so proud of them!
@rusty2rusty (6763)
• Defiance, Ohio
29 May 16
I have never been to a pow wow but always wanted to go to one.
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
27 May 16
they jest'd the "gatherin' 'f nations" 'p'n albuquerque not too long 'go. i'd loved to've gone, but despise that city so. 'tis been prolly 35 years since i've been to a pow wow. most fascinatin' to watch all the diff'rent tribes, their costumes, dance 'n music.
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
27 May 16
Glad you had a good time! Been to quite a few of them:), the family business was giving dogsled rides and canoe trips, and my father was on the board of directors for the Native Tourism Association-so I'd been around them a fair amount. Here they also serve the role of out reach, education, and preservation of cultural identity (present tense), because there is a concern of viewing such gatherings as mere historical reenactement or a thing of the past-that needs to be kept in mind always because such views are more common and deep rooted then we tend to be consciously aware of...this has very harmful (sadly again, present tense) consequences on the Native Community.
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
27 May 16
I have been to them. They are lots of fun, and the food is always delicious, especially the fire cooked corn on the cob!
@BettyB (4117)
• Summerville, South Carolina
30 May 16
I've never been to one but it sounds like it would be a fascinating experience.
