Cultural Event Paper

A Native American Pow Wow is the Native American ceremonies which have evolved from a formal ceremony of the past into a modern variety of dance, family reunion, and festival. It contains with the colorful tribal dance contests, handmade product, crafts show, tipis, and singing. As a social skill, Powwow is the Native American’s best way of meeting together to join in dancing, singing, making new friends. Dances play an essential part of the life of the Native American. Over the years, even dance styles and content have changed, but their profound meaning and importance have not.

This kind of ceremonial exchanges the cultural value of indigenous religion. We can take an example of such a ceremony in American society, as a “Thanksgiving”. This type of event can be considered as a ceremonial exchange because it gives an opportunity to the people to practice their culture.

Religious beliefs varied between tribes, but there was a widespread belief in a Great Spirit who created the earth, and who pervaded everything. The constitution of the Iroquois stated every time assembly is held, “ they shall make an address and offer thanks to the earth, to the streams of water, to the animals”. Native American believe everything on earth was given by the Mother Earth, so they must pay respect to their surroundings. In Natives’ culture, there is no such thing of I am first because I am this because they are all relying on one another to sustain life. According to the Digital History, Native American lifestyle was “ free from all the traditional constraints of civilized life-- such as private property or family bonds” . The natives had never of a thought of themselves as owners. They believed that everything on earth was gifted by the Mother Earth, which explains why Indians have a great respect for nature. This concept has proven to us that these Native American were not self- centered. They don’t take everything for granted. They appreciated every little thing around

Native Americans are always struggling with identification with their tribes traditions compared to Euro-American traditions. Counselors need to recognize that many Native Americans feel uncomfortable when talking about things outside of their context.

Native Americans have had a long history of resistance to the social and cultural assimilation into white culture. By employing various creative strategies, Native Americans have attempted to cope with the changes stemming from the European colonial movement into the Americas. There are fundamental differences in world views and cultural and social orders between Indians and Europeans, which contributed to conservatism in Native American cultures. In this paper, two aspects of such cultural and institutional differences of Native American societies will be examined: holistic Native American beliefs versus dualistic world views and harmony versus domination. These two aspects are important in terms of explaining changes (or lack thereof) in

Attending my first Native American powwow was a very intriguing cultural experience to be apart of, and that I was grateful I was able to attend. This was an event that I would not have attended if it were not for this project and I ended up learning a lot about this culture that is around us. Every Native American tribe has their own version of this culture, however, all tribes gather in a powwow, a cultural event that strengthens the unity of the tribe. My informants name is Gary Watson, an elderly man, who has attended powwows for many years. He and his wife were participants in the powwow this year and were also there to watch their grandchildren participate for the first time. I

Native Americans celebrate a lot of traditions but one of the most popular celebration is Pow wows. Pow wows are also a time to extend native american culture and preserve the rich heritage of american indians. According to the article, What is a Pow wow, “A pow wow is gathering for many different communities”. Native americans have a diverse culture. Some say that Pow wows stand for an “American Indian medicine man”. Pow wows celebrate people’s way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships, and making new ones.

Eucalyptus Grove comes alive with the beat of the drums, sending chills of power trickling down your spine. All around you are people, over 30,000 weaving in and out of over 100 booths. Despite the tickle of your nose from the dust kicked up by the passionate dancers in the arena, you are greeted by the smell of foods representative of different tribes. The crowd is colorful in dress, face and purpose; the songs represent and evoke different emotions. You have just entered the Stanford American Indian Organization’s Annual Pow Wow.

Located at the center of the floor was the drum with its performers (all male), and the singers who were the male drummers and female singers. The female singers were seated just behind the male drummers in a circle. Prior to the initiation of the Powwow, many other things occurred. Miss Indian OU was crowned and everyone joined in celebration by dancing around the center drum. Male and female vocals could both be heard during this time. From here the honoring of certain individuals, families, and anniversaries occurred. It was then time for the Grand Entry. It is important to note that a prayer was carried out before this entry and all were asked to rise due to the presence of the Eagle Staff. The drums then initiated the Grand Entry and well over 100 dancers arrived on the floor. Each Plains dance type from Jingle Dress Dancers to Fancy Dancers was present. Regalia varied between each dance group and during the Grand Entry they each danced their own individual dance.

Native American tribal communities are one of the most disadvantaged and socially vulnerable groups in the United States. Widespread poverty, alcoholism and lack of services are common throughout Native American tribal lands, leading to high social vulnerability on many levels. In addition, tribes and their indigenous traditions may be particularly vulnerable to damage caused by environmental change, as “tribal cultural practices and religious beliefs are rooted in the

The regalia that the dancers were wearing was absolutely beautiful and the amount of craftsmanship that some of them put in were awe-inspiring. I watched several of the dance contests. The Tiny Tots contest was so adorable and was great to see such young children actively participating in their culture. Another favorite was what they called the “Golden Age” dancers, where community elders took the stage. It meant so much to them, which was very profound. One of the older women looked very similar to my grandmother and reminded me of her. The centerpiece of the entire celebration of when the men’s fancy dance contest occurred. These were people at the top of their craft dressed in beautiful regalia. The realization that really struck me was just how modern a lot of the clothing and items were. Some dancers wore noticeable machine-made pieces; other wore bright neon colors that do not exist in nature. I remember the powwow (probably a little over a decade ago), where most of clothing was hand-sewn and beaded. This change was something I did not expect, but comes with modernization of any culture or tradition. Seeing how the dancers and the powwow itself have adapted to contemporary times while also holding on to the essentials of their traditions was so fascinating to see

Animals are so powerful to the Native American culture and are used in most of the ceremonies that they perform. One specific ceremony or gathering animals are really used is at pow wows. Pow wows are a gathering of some of North America's Native people. A pow wow is an event for Native American people, no specific tribe, to meet and dance, sing, socialize, and honor Native American culture. Pow wows are generally a dancing competition, often awarded with prize money. Pow wows vary in length from a one day event, to major pow wows called for a special occasion which can be up to one week long. Pow wows are very sacred to the people, they use a drum which is said to be mother earths heart to call and gather the dancers and spectators. It is said that the people belong to mother earth and since that it said the dancers use mother earth’s materials to create their regalia.

However Mardi Gras' roots originate before the French. Numerous see a relationship to the antiquated tribal ceremonies of richness that respected the landing of Spring. A conceivable progenitor of the festival was the Lupercalia, a bazaar like blow out held

People now between the ages 40-60 consider themselves to be the missing link due to the majority of the individuals being adopted or fostering out of native communities. When the Washington centennial parade came around Native tribes had the opportunity to get together to participate. When members participate in the canoe journey there are several rules that they must follow including no sex, no drinking or drugs, and no violence. The belief was that the participants should not waste their energy, but all their energy should be used to power the canoe. The ring ceremony is performed when someone promises to follow all of the rules for the canoe and a ring on a chain is placed around their neck. But, the elders do not expect perfection, although they hope the members will try their best to abide by the rules. The journey allows time to think, develop discipline, and meet new people. Urban indian kids are not used to the more spiritual environment. As a result, the experience completely changes the lives of the city kids to be able to see all of the different tribes come together is like nothing they have experienced

In pow-wow space, it is amazing to see the way that Native Americans are organizing themselves around the drum and why. “Dr. Hoehner described a pow-wow as taking place within four circles” (Perea 25, 2014). Any culture has their own way of organizing themselves in a social gathering such as singing, but I have always thought that American Indians pow-wow space is built differently to what mentioned in the book. The circle starts with fire, dancers “mostly females,” drums and both singers and audience. Of course, that was not true.