dimanche 10 mars 2019

The History Behind Native American Pow Wows

By Laura Butler


While Indian tribes first became well distinguished during the civil war, most have become better known since that time. As the cultural and historical aspects of Native Americans are not generally taught in public schools, most individuals learn about this history through various events such as annual gatherings held by different tribes. While Native american pow wows are quite popular, there are several tribes whom have claimed to have hosted the first pow wow.

The first pow wows were public dances akin to those performed at gatherings which now take place around the United States. Originally, the events were an ongoing practice among tribes in the Great Plains, with most taking place during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. As the United States had began fragmenting various tribes in an effort to acquire Native American lands for economic exploration and growth, it was a difficult time for a number of tribes.

The United States also passed laws which limited how and when tribes could celebrate. Regardless of the law, a number of tribes continued to gather in secret to celebrate the cultural aspects so important to tribal history and tradition. As a result, new pow wows began to take place in the Great Lakes and other regions of the country.

Organizing and planning such an event now begins months, if not a year in advance by a group of people who make up an organizational committee. Many of these gatherings are sponsored by Native American clubs, communities and organizations. Whereas, others might be sponsored by specific tribes or Native American Studies programs such as the one located at Humboldt State University in Northern California.

The committee consist of several individuals whom do all the planning prior to a gathering. In many cases, if there is a sponsor, committee members are often part of the sponsoring organization. One area in which the committee is always responsible is in recruiting and hiring staff, publicizing the event, securing a location and recruiting vendors.

Staff are the people whom run the gathering on a day to day basis during the event. These individuals are often hired by the committee several months in advance in order to assure staff receives the proper training and that individuals can handle the work load. For, the quality of staff each year can often play an integral role in the attendance at future events.

Most pow wows have an arena director whom is in charge during the event. Sometimes known as a whip man, the whip man is the director's assistant though there are a number of gatherings which do not have a whip man. When this is the case, the arena director often takes on the role of assistant and director.

In the case of events which include contests, the arena director is ultimately responsible for providing judges. Most often, these types of events will have someone other than the arena director act as head judge. When it comes to setting up and hosting ceremonies such as rites of passage, marriage ceremonies, eagle feather dropping and others, the arena director often takes the place of a whip man.




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