HUM 221: Links on powwows

In class Wednesday, we saw the first part of a video on powwows called "Into the Circle." As I was watching it and observing your reactions, I was reminded of the first powwows I attended 10-12 years ago. I was bewildered at first, bored after a while ... just for a little while ... and then I started to get drawn into it as I got more comfortable with the beat of the drum, the singing, the amplified voice of Master of Ceremonies introducing dancers, explaining what was happening, telling jokes and just moving the event along like a good MC does at any event ... the booths with arts and crafts, recordings, books ... the woodsmoke drifting through the air ... the taste of "Indian tacos" (beans wrapped in fry bread) and buffalo meat sandwiches ... the whole spectacle that's like part county fair, part craft show and part, well, a community event you won't see anywhere else. I think going to a powwow is the best way to experience a little taste of "Indian Country" for just a few hours.

We have several coming up in Illinois in the next few months. I can't make assignments after the semester's over, but I hope you'll consider going to a powwow over the summer ... the Honor the Eagle Powwow sponsored by Midwest SOARRING at Starved Rock State Park the weekend of May 20-21 ... the Return to Pimiteoui Powwow at A.H Sommer Park off I-74 just west of Peoria the weekend of June 10-11 ... or any of the Illinois powwows listed on the 500 Nations powwow website. Please note that all powwows are drug- and alcohol-free. But you won't mind!

Julia C. White, author of a book called The Pow Wow Trail, has an excellent, beginner-friendly page of tips on visiting a powwow, what to expect and how to behave. If your computer has a sound card (as ours don't in the Dawson 220 computer lab), you get an added benefit -- a looped sound track that starts playing as soon as you open the page.

But before summer, there's finals. And there's going to be a question on your final exam about how Native music and dance traditions have adapted and changed over the years. In addition to Julia White's page, here are some links to help you ace the final:

• The American Indian Culture Research Center at Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota has a good summary of the history and meaning of powwows, especially in Lakota country, the "powwow trail," the styles of powwow dancing and other basic information.
  
• A group of Native dancers from Oklahoma has put up an excellent website on Southern Powwows that catches the spirit of the events, gives the history of their development among Southern Plains peoples like the Ponca and Osage, etiquette for visitors and the art form in general.