The Native American Student Union is holding their 39th Annual Powwow this Saturday, an event to honor mothers and provide an opportunity for Native American students to reconnect with their culture and share it with others.
“Powwows kinda connect me with the greater Indian community because there are people from all over the state,” said University senior Brandon Culbertson, a co-director of NASU and member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.
Culbertson, who has attended powwows all his life, said the events are important in rebuilding cultural identity within native communities.
“My favorite part of powwows is when I see parents passing on traditions to little children because there is a history within the U.S. – the history of assimilation and loss of identity as a cause of national policy,” Culbertson said.
Passing on tradition by honoring mothers is the theme of this year’s powwow, which will begin at 1 p.m. at McArthur Court, break at 5 p.m. for a traditional salmon dinner at the Many Nations Longhouse on campus, then start up again at 7 p.m. and last until people tire of dancing, Culbertson said.
Viertra Linn, a University senior and co-director of NASU, said it’s mothers who “give life to the community,” and it’s important to recognize them.
The word powwow is thought to come from the Algonkian-speaking Narragansett Indians who lived in what is now the northeastern part of the country. Professor Troy Johnson of California State University, Long Beach said the word doesn’t mean dance or celebration, but rather a teacher, vision, or a council or gathering.
“When the English met with Indian leaders they would ‘powwow together,’ or in Indian society one might visit a ‘powwow’ because of his or her healing powers,” professor Johnson’s Web site on powwows reads.
This year’s powwow will also pay respect to the University’s late professor Proudfoot, an associate professor of international studies and a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, who died last October.
Proudfoot played a significant role in creating the Many Nations Longhouse on campus, a building intended to serve as a community gathering point for tribal members and the location of this year’s salmon dinner.
“We really encourage people to attend at least one powwow in their lives,” said Linn, whose favorite part of a powwow is watching the grass dancers, whose movements resemble stomping out grass and sowing seeds.
There will be several types of dancing and the social powwow in addition to 12 drums with six to 10 drummers on each. The drummers are coming from Yakima, Wash. for the event, Linn said.
“The dancing will range from traditional for both men and women and fancy dancing,” Culbertson said, describing the men’s fancy dance as fast-paced with the objective of keeping up with the beat of the drum.
The women “wanted something more fast-paced and exciting, so they used the shawls to demonstrate butterflies” by spreading them out like wings, he said.
The event will begin with a grand entry where the flag ceremony is held and the native veterans are honored, Linn said. Tribes from Oregon, Montana and other states will be in attendance, as well as tribes from Mexico, she said.
Vendors will be walking around selling crafts and goods and this will be an opportunity to learn about native traditions and have a good time, the co-directors said.
“We are really excited to have the opportunity to share our culture and customs,” Culbertson said.
There is no fee for the powwow at McArthur Court or the dinner at the Many Nations Longhouse, which Culbertson said will be first-come first-served, except for the elders who will eat first.
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