Community, Family, and Spiritualality

The Powwow is an event that reflects upon many important aspects of Native American society. Amidst the beat of the Drum and stunning regalia, there are other traditions and activities whose purpose is to communicate and strengthen the ways of the Native American community, family life and spirituality.

COMMUNITY

SPIRITUALITY

GIVEAWAY

 SNAGGING

SOBRIETY

VETERANS

COMMUNITY

The Powwow is a gathering that reinforces the values of working together as a family and bonding as a community. Powwows are places where young people are exposed to the language, values and teachings of the elders and community.

These sentiments are illustrated in the words of Mike Hotaine, a Master of Ceremonies and Dakota person from Manitoba: "Ochiapo means come and help each other. Come let's do it together. Hokahey ochiapo, [means] to give each other strength, to give each other words of encouragement...gratefulness for you to be here, and gratefulness that we met today and talked, and that's what the Powwow's about. It's a celebration of people coming together to share and communicate. No matter what part of Mother Earth you're on, that part of land is relative, and whoever walks on it is your friend, your 'koda.' That's how we look at it. When we come to a celebration, a Powwow, it's like a bunch of birds coming together to communicate, to talk about things, about life. It's about a new beginning that we will create for each other, for two people, and then we will fly away. And that's exactly what will happen here. We come together this weekend, and after it's finished we'll be going home in our directions and the Powwow will be finished. And we will go home feeling a different beginning, a different beginning that's happened."

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SPIRITUALITY

In much of Native American life, the secular and sacred are intertwined: A Powwow is a fun social event and family reunion, while at the same time it provides a setting for spiritual enrichment through traditional rituals and individual reflection. Dancing, as a form of personal expression, cultural identity, physical enjoyment and worship, embodies this duality of purpose at Powwow. Another aspect of Native American spirituality is the belief that all elements of the world- the sky, the grass, the rocks, the animals, the wind, the sounds, the people - are relatives, and are to be recognized and treated with appropriate respect. Worshipping, singing, dancing and helping others are all means of spiritual participation by which the Indians unite with these elements and with each other.

LITEFOOT, a Cherokee rap singer and actor from Oklahoma, feels that "If we have Indian problems and we have Indian questions, we cannot find Indian answers in mainstream society. We have to look to our Indian ways. I think it would have to be re-establishing that walk with our creator. I mean, we are a praying people."

Barbara Feezor-Stewart, an Yankton Sioux Dakota and Anthropologist: "As I sit here and the wind goes by, I realize that God is here, that Wakantanka is here to make this wind blow, to make my mouth move and the sound waves that go. The spirituality of American Indians is intertwined in everyday life."

Walter LaBatt, a Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota traditional dancer, drum maker and artist, says. "We are the original people here, and we have tried to hold on to those good ways, because those good ways have to survive for thousands and thousands of years. Our way is not better, it just works for us."

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GIVEAWAY

Powwows serve not only as outlets for creative and spiritual expression, but also as forums to present the public rituals of honoring and connecting. To the American Indian people, community and family are very important, and thus publicly acknowledging accomplishments or virtue is an integral part of gatherings. One ritual for honoring is called the Giveaway.

The way in which a community honors its members is an important illustration of the values and identity of that culture. The mainstream American community values independence. Members of that community are honored for their accomplishments by being singled out and awarded with a gift or presentation. (A valued longtime employee might be given a gold watch; a scientist might be awarded a Nobel prize). In contrast, the Native American  community values interdependence and someone is honored by a public ceremony in which gifts are given in their name to the people who have been important in their lives or somehow have helped them reach their accomplishment. For instance, a teenage boy graduating from high school is honored by gifts given in his name by his mother to the friends and relatives who supported him through the years. He is singled out as an honored person and those people important in his life are thanked for their involvement and years of help and support. This approach highlights the values of bonding and working together in a community. One is reminded that he or she is not alone in life, that people will help in the hard times and provide acknowledgment in the good times.

Some honorings involve the singing of a special song in memory or in honor of a person. The participants enter the circle and shake the hands of the honored individual and his or her family. As a group they complete the circle around the arena, and then the song is begun. More often, however, gifts given in an honoring include beautiful blankets or quilts, handmade dance outfits, jackets, ribbon shirts or money. Sometimes fruit or candy is used in giveaways for children. Sometimes a cow or horse will be given as a special honoring.

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SNAGGING

The Powwow is a gathering of people from all over North America. It is a great place to meet people sharing a common heritage, value system, and interests. It's also a great place to make new friends, and that includes romantic partners.

Buddy Whipple, a Mdewakanton Dakota man, explains the historical basis for such gatherings. "You could not marry someone from your own tribe, or your own band, especially your own clan. So what you had to do was to go someplace else and get a wife (or husband). This is the way you found someone that was not of your own tribe."

Leon Thompson, a Yakama Nez perce Fancy dancer adds that "that's what the Powwow is all about--meeting new people and meeting old friends, and one other term called "snagging", you know, boy meets girl and stuff like that. They call that snagging. The announcer says 'Don't be snaggin," or "let her go or let him go...That's how I met my wife on the Powwow trail in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. We just met and ended up going to the same school."

A similar story is recalled by Harvey and Tania Goodsky of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe: "Nine years ago we met at a Powwow. We just started out as friends, we hung around together, and that's all we were, just friends. We walked around and talked, and I guess it just snuck up on me one day, I guess. That's how I can explain it."

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SOBRIETY

Powwows are sober events. No drugs or alcohol are allowed on the premises.

Acoording to Kenny Merrick, a Master of Ceremonies and member of the Devil's Lake Sioux Tribe, "A Powwow is a place where one learns to find within themselves who they really are. This is very sacred to us, the circle. And this is why we don't like to see alcohol or drugs involved in the Powwow."

Christina Gail, an Objibwe Jingle Dress Dacner from White Earth further explains that "My namesake told me, he said, when Indians drink and drug, they drive their spirits away. That spirit doesn't want to be around alcohol and drugs, so it goes away. And that's why people walk around lost."

Ed Godfrey, a Dakota/Lakota person and director of the Juel Fairbank Chemical Dependency services in St. Paul, says "The getting high from being out there dancing to a good traditional song, you know that feeling that you have, is a true type of feeling that's an experience for you that isn't artificially induced."

In contemporary society, alcohol use is problematic in the Native American community. However, alcohol was not a substance used in early Native American communities. It was introduced to the Native American people a little over 400 years ago by the white settlers, most notably the traveling mountain men and fur traders. Many people feel that it is an unnatural substance for Native American people and that there may be a predisposition to addiction. Alcohol and drug addiction is a complicated situation. One needs to look at a physical cause, an emotional cause, social circumstances and the occurence of a spiritual loss. The appearance of white settlers in Native American territory, set forth a chain of events causing alcohol addiction when it was  introduced to the Native American nations, it has only quickly weakened the fabric of a community that for tens of thousands of years was able to maintain balance. Powwow does the exact opposite of what drugs and alcohol do to a community. The Powwow highlights the balance of the community and brings people together with a physical, spiritual and communal connection. Perhaps one of the most interesting views is the role of Powwow and traditional ways as an element in recovery.

Buddy Whipple, a Mdewakanton Dakota man and member of the board of directors for Juels Fairbank Chemical Dependency services, told his story. "I'd go to Powwows, and I'd feel it. I can't describe it. It's just a feeling I had, that I wanted to dance, and I wanted to be out there, and it made me feel good. One of the things is that coming back from overseas and out of the Marine Corps I really abused alcohol. To me, a weekend just meant drinking. I got off work, went down to the bar, cashed my check, and of course I'd spend half my check there at the bar. Going to Powwows, it was a sober event, and the more I went to Powwows the more I liked it. I let go of the alcohol and drug abuse by gong to Powwows. And that's why I've always been real thankful that I found my way back.

For many people revisiting traditional ways has been an important tool. Ed Godfrey feels that it is no coincidence that alcohol is called "spirits" and used to fill up a "spiritual hole". Finding a healthy sense of self and community can greatly help recovering people. Powwows naturally provide such opportunities. Here is a place where it is safe and encouraged to be an Indian person, where the traditional and modern ways and values intermingle and American Indian people can celebrate their identity openly with pride.

Walter LaBatt, a Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota dancer, drum maker and artist explains his story. "When I used to go to Powwows, I used to drink and ...thought I had a good time. But I would see some of those Powwow people, how their lives had changed through going the traditional way. I used to feel somewhat, well, damn envious, because they could enjoy themselves and have a good time- you could see them dancing and having fun- without having to go that alcohol way. Without having to put something in your body to feel good. At first initially, I thought, well I'll just sober up and I'll be satisfied that way. But there was something lacking, something lacking inside. Sobriety made me feel good, but there was something lacking, and I didn't quite know what it was. I don't know. Luckily I stumbled and found the right way."

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VETERANS

Native American people who served in the United States armed services are greatly honored in the Native American community. The translation for soldier, warrior, protector and helper are all the same word. In Dakota that word is Akicita and in Ojibwe it is Ogichida.

As Ed Godfrey, a Dakota/Lakota veteran explains, "It was always the warrior who was first in defending Mother Earth. It was his duty to be first. It is a part of traditional values, a part of protecting against any outside invasion that would endanger the people, our people and the land."

It is a remarkable fact that Native American people served the United States long before they were even given United States citizenship. In fact, between 1917 and 1918, over 10,000 Native American people enlisted into the armed services to serve in World War I. Although this was the greatest number of enlisted peoples from any one non-anglo culture, citizenship (with the right to vote) for Native Americans was not granted until 1924.

The warrior is seen as having an important and ongoing role. As Chief Ernest Wabasha, hereditary chief of the Dakota people, explains. "Sometime in the future we believe that we will be back to protect the environment and everything else."

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