This past Sunday, August 3, 2014 my
husband and I went to the 2014 Bear Mountain Pow Wow held in the Anthony Wayne
Recreation Area of Harriman State Park in Stony Point, NY. I had not been to anything like this since I
was a young child visiting the Taos Pueblo with my parents and was very excited
about going. This was my husband’s first
time attending anything even remotely like this so on the drive up I read the
Powwow section from Everything You Wanted
to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer to him. Reading this beforehand helped both of us to
understand a lot better about what was going on and what some of the things
meant. I was really glad that I had done
that once we started watching the dancers.
The picture above was taken at the start
of the Grand Entry and features the head dancers of the Powwow leading the
dancers into the arena. According to
Treuer: “Often, warriors and chiefs
proudly displayed their feathers at treaty signings and diplomatic events,
showing their military might, parading into the compounds of U.S. Army forts,
for example. This custom evolved into
the current grand entry, where Indians of all ages and genders parade into the
dance arbor.” (Treuer) I was completely in awe watching all of the
different dancer’s parade by us and getting to see all of the different age
groups involved.
After the grand entry different groups
were called up and competed for prizes in the dance competition. As we watched the different groups I was
again glad that I had read on the way up because knowing the different styles
and different dance meanings made it so much more meaningful to us both. For instance knowing that “Traditional
dancers mimic the actions of warriors and hunters scouting for enemies or
game.” (Treuer) We also recognized the outfits that had the
long fringe on the aprons were part of the Men’s Grass Dancers and we
recognized the “jingle dress”. I really
enjoyed watching all of the different dances but I think my favorite was the
Aztec dancers that did a special dance towards the end of the day. The man playing the drum for the dance also
told some of their history and about the dance.
With their dance they included men, women, and even children.
All around the dance arena were tents
set up by vendors to sell arts and crafts, t-shirts, and jewelry. And of course food vendors selling fry bread,
fry bread tacos, deer sausage, and buffalo burgers.
We both had a great time and are
planning on working our schedules around to be able to attend more events like
this.
More information on the powwow we attended can
be found here: http://redhawkcouncil.org/ along with all
of their future events. I have also
created a flickr account to share all of the photos that we took and can be
located here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/126660905@N05/ I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did
taking them.
Hi Jana! I loved your post! It sounds like it was definitely an amazing and fun experience and that you really benefited from reading the section about Powwows in the Treuer text. Thank you for the pictures you shared as well- it was really interesting to see the different costumes that were discussed in the reading - especially knowing that it was at an event that just occurred.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if the money made at these events goes to individuals or to a fund to host future events?
They actually have people/organizations that sponsor dance categories and or drum groups. At this particular day of the powwow one of the main sponsors was Redrum motorcycle club. According to the brochure and website they help raise funds for First Nations college students who reside in the New York City area. The Redhawk Council also raises funds for the Redhawk Native American Scholarship fund and they host art and dance classes and cultivate traditional crops in an urban garden. I found this information on the brochure from the powwow but I believe most of it and more can be found at their website http://redhawkcouncil.org/about-us/ and they also list upcoming events there as well.
DeleteIt was a great experience and look forward to attending the next one on September 21st.
Excellent. My children and i attend a pow wow at minimum once a year and I love the drumming. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteI loved the drums I just wish they would have had them out so I could see. They were up under the tent where the announcer was and it was roped off to us. Hopefully we will get to see some of the drum groups along with the dancers at the next one we attend.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked the pictures!