Opinion

The Pow Wow

Monday, November 3, 2003
Crazyhorse singers, 2003 Oglala Nation Singing Champions -- this year's North Platte Traverler Pow Wow host drummers

Each year during the summer and fall people get together to celebrate reunions. School reunions for the 25th and 50th anniversaries are popular, and many families come together every year or so to remember ancestors and build bonds. As reunions go, North Platte had a doozie the last weekend in October, when Mid Plains College hosted a Pow Wow for Native Americans. People came from all over this country and Canada and Mexico, for the first such gathering in what is hoped to become an annual event.

It makes a lot of sense, historically, to have such a gathering in Nebraska. After all, this is the very heart of Indian Country. Many bands of roving Native Americans made this area their special hunting grounds in the past. The great chief, Red Cloud was born on the fork of the North and South Platte River.

Pow Wows play a large part in the lives of modern Indian people. The Pow Wow season runs from March to October, and some families "follow the circuit" for the entire season. The Pow Wows serve as a reason for Indian people to get together. The dances play up the common culture that Native Americans share and help to play down the traditional differences that many of these people held toward each other. Young people meet and fall in love, further blurring old animosities between tribes. Competitive singing and dancing for prize money is a fairly recent change in the traditional Pow Wow.

Navassie Charging Crow, a princess from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota wearing the "Jingle Dress."

Indians have traditionally honored their warriors with dance and song. To be a warrior was a man's purpose in life and the most honorable death a man could have was to fall defending his people. This practice has carried over to the honoring of returning veterans from all the US branches of service, especially wounded veterans. This practice was demonstrated in the opening ceremonies of the Pow Wow in North Platte. The honor guard, made up of men and women veterans from the Pine Ridge Reservation, led the procession, marching with the Indian step to the beat of the drums. The were followed by representatives from many Indian Nations, dressed in traditional ceremonial garb, from the rather plain dress of the Chiricahua Apache to the very elaborate costumes of some of the Siouan dancers, parading in ever tightening circles around the Gym, till the floor was completely filled with dancers in a veritable rainbow of colors.

The circle is an important symbol to Indian cultures because it symbolizes the continuation of life---never ending, like a circle. It brings people closer together---closer to their community and to their culture. The drum, a visible circle, sets the rhythm of the dance and the tempo of the song, but is much more than a musical instrument to the Indian; it is sacred. The singers must know the strict and exacting protocol to be used while seated at the drum.

The singers (who are also the drummers) at a Pow Wow are very important figures. Each singer must be able to lead at least one song to participate. Originally, songs and chants were in the native language of the singer, songs of fun and festival, war and conquest, honor and family songs, religious songs, songs of joy and mourning.

Over the years, as different tribes gathered together at Pow Wows, they would share songs. In order to share songs with others who spoke another language, the use of "vocables" came into use, in which sounds (vocables) replaced the words of the old songs.

Traditionally, the Indian women wore buckskin dresses and were wrapped in blankets, with few decorations, and danced a sedate two-step around the outer ring of the circle. The men were the ones with the bright plumage -- headdresses and bustles -- and, depending on the dance, performed with intricate footwork. This has changed to a degree. The women now wear cloth dresses and are wrapped in a much lighter shawl, and depending on the tribe, can have this shawl decorated with quite intricate beadwork and sequins, and fringes that bounce as the dancer moves. Now, the men have their Fancy Dance. The younger women have a Fancy Dance too.

At the North Platte Pow Wow, young Indian "Princesses", beautiful young women dressed in elaborate, eye-catching dresses, represented each of the attending tribes and were introduced to the crowd, along with the other celebrities in attendance.

Dances have always been important to the American Indian, and dances were held for a wide variety of reasons. Today, the dances performed at Pow Wows are "social", though they might have evolved from dances that had very different meanings.

Some of the dances that were seen at the Pow Wow:

Round Dance---Dancers move around the floor clockwise around the drum.

Rabbit Dance---One of the few dances where men and women dance as partners.

Snake Dance---Dancers follow in a single line, moving in a snake-like manner.

Blanket Dance---The audience is invited to participate, and this is a dance that helps subsidize the traveling expenses of the Pow Wow.

Men's Grass Dance---This is one of the oldest surviving dances of the Omaha tribe. Dancers are adorned with fringes, which sway with the movement of the dancer, reminiscent of the long, blowing grass of the prairie.

Intertribal dance---Where everyone is invited to join in. Much like the Round Dance.

Men's Fancy Dance---Dancers wear brilliantly colored feather bustles. They perform elaborate dance steps, with increasing speed, and acrobatic movements.

Women's Jingle Dance---Named for the metal jingles that adorn the dress.

Women's Fancy---Involves fancy footwork, elaborate spinning movements.

The War Dance---At one time the War Dance was restricted to warriors, and only the best dancers were chosen to participate. Today the War Dance is a victory dance among the Plains Indians. It is purely social and is enjoyed by all who care to participate---A dignified dance, rather than a violent dance as is commonly portrayed.

(Not all Indians realize that the War Dance is supposed to be dignified, and not violent. After all, Indians go to the movies too. Years ago, while I was in junior high school, The Plainview, NE Pirates (where I grew up) played The Winnebago Indians in football game at Plainview. After the teams had warmed up, and just before the kickoff, the Winnebago team, starters and reserves alike, came together in the center of the field in a close circle. One of their members led the group in a sort of war chant, to the accompaniment of a drum. Then they circled the center of the field, wildly, to the Indian dance step, while singing their chant, with the incessant beat of that infernal drum. At the end of their song they let go with a blood-curdling shriek---the kickoff team took their positions and the rest of the group went screaming to the sidelines. It was a pretty impressive show, and effective too. For all intents and purposes, the game was already over. The Plainview team, which was favored to win, was shaken and never did recover from that performance; they ended up losing a game they should have won.)

Hats off to the North Platte Traveler Pow Wow committee and Mid Plains College for putting on such a great show for our area. Thanks to all the Native American Dancers and Singers for sharing a part of your heritage with us. For those of you that missed this year's event, keep watch next year for the dates and mark your calendars. You're in for a treat.

Source: The North Platte Traveler Pow Wow Guide, 2003.

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