Kahnawake Pow Wow - Be Excellent in Her Presence

Kahnawake Pow Wow - Echoes of a Proud Nation 2011 - POST 3

Previous Posts:
1. Intro to the Kahnawake Mohawk/Kanienkahaka reserve
2. Men I met on the bus rides to Kahnawake

I don't have many good pics of my own. I'm not used to this camera, so when I switched sides of the field the sun was facing me and my pics were all overexposed.  >:-(   I marked my photos with a * but the rest aren't mine.

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THE POW WOW GROUNDS

Originally a Powwow was held in the spring to welcome the new beginnings of life. Often different tribal nations would come together for the occasion. During these general meetings the Native American Indians would settle arguments between different groups, form alliances, and trade with one another. It was also a time for families to hold naming and honoring ceremonies. The original Pow Wows often were of religious significance and therefore consisted of different religious songs and dances. Please note that at contemporary Pow Wows religious dances are usually not performed.

A contemporary Powwow is a social event for everyone to have a fun and entertaining time, whether you're a Native American or just interested in Native American cultures. Pow Wows offer a time for Native Americans from a variety of different tribal nations to get together and participate in visiting, singing, and dancing. (From the official web site)

I went on Sunday, day two, when the finalists were going up against each other. Woo! 

Me, who usually goes to bed at 8 AM, got up at 8 AM.  :-O

 

(David Neel's Munch Scream)

 The pow wow consisted of a sort of "fair ground" with food booths on one side, and crafts on the other, leading towards the grass-arena where the dancing takes place.

Main foods: bison burgers, moose burgers, walleye nuggets, bannock bread, shortcakes, corn soup, wild rice, snow cones, Indian tacos, and strawberry juice.

The dancing was to start at noon so before then I scoped out the jewelry so I could buy something. This is the place to buy because the sellers have to guarantee that their wares are "Indian made" and not made-in-China crapola, and that they're not selling you items that should only be used for sacred purposes. Occasionally there'd be a booth with no one at it, and that would make me suspicion, lol, like "If the local people aren't shopping there... maybe I shouldn't be eeeeither..."

When I was leaving later I saw a whole other row of booths I'd missed! But they looked like bigger, more expensive items (bowls, blankets, clothing) so it's just as well. Wouldn't want aboriginal-crafts-envy.


WARRIOR CULTURE

By noon all the tree-shaded seats in the stands were full--full of smart people. I'd read that you shouldn't take pictures during the opening march, and honor dances, like honoring war veterans. So I took a pic of the vets before it started.

 Dancers getting dressed *

The soldiers *

I'd also read on the Kahnawake site that many non-Natives are perplexed by all the emphasis on soldiers, and I would have been too! Here's the explanation:

The respect shown to veterans is an integral part of American Indian cultures, a tradition from times when the welfare of every village depended on the number and ability of its fighting men. To be a warrior was a man's purpose in life and the most honorable death a man could have was to fall defending the people. To the Indian people, the well-being of the entire tribe was more important that that of any individual; and so the warriors were honored because they were willing to give their lives in order that the people might live. Today's veterans are accorded the same tokens of honor and respect as the warriors of times past.

Isn't that interesting? It also explains this photo I'd seen:

That seems like a healing ritual. We have too few in modern day life. The MC later asked for prayers for two Mohawk soldiers in Afghanistan.

We were asked to stand until after the honor dances were over, and for men to remove their hats.  So the veterans marched out, most American, including a young female marine. 

THE DANCING

All the dancers came out behind them, by "type." Let me tell you, it's impressive to see and hear twenty jingle dresses bounce past you all in a row!

It's also impressive to hear drum/singing bands live--so different than hearing on youtube or an album. You feel the drums thumping through you! And the dancers have to match their dancing to changes in the music, so the dancing and singing come together as one act. It's super interesting to watch.

The regalia (not "costumes") were beautiful, though some of it looked so hot cause there's a lot of synthetic fabric. A lot of feather fanning going on. 

The men's and women's dances are very different, though there's variety. The men's dances are all pretty active--I guess, just like in most cases in nature, men gotta work to get women's attention. Okay yes, I know these dances are usually about war and such, and maybe weren't even done in front of women (I haven't researched any of this yet), but the ones done in front of women... oh baby... there had to be some Sexual Tension going on.

LA ROMANCE?

The second Tao of Steve is "be excellent in her presence" and I can imagine a pow wow dancer with mad skillz scoring big time. You could be a bit shy off the field, maybe a bit plain, but put on the war paint, put on the feathers, and literally strut yourself--you've got it made in the shade.

[Most of these pics are from Kahnawake, either this year or previous. A few are elsewhere, cause I was trying to find the women's regalia pics.]

 

 

 

 

 

    

Now the ladies' dances are more sedate. The jingle dance has some movement, and there's one--I forget which--where the women fly about, arms outstretched. But the others have such minimal movements, it's hard to detect movement. A woman will be wearing a beautiful--I mean GOOORGEOUS white fringe-to-the-floor regalia (like Andrew bought Michelle on North of 60!)--and she'll be holding a feather which she'll occasionally hold outstretched but otherwise hold close to her body, and she'll be sl-o-w-ly inching across the grass, her fringe swaaaying. And she's hot in a totally different way from the guys.

Really. Unless all these dancers are married... there must be a little romance that follows the pow wow trail. Certainly Buffy Ste. Marie wrote one of my fave romances in a pow wow setting. ;-)