Powwow Day by Traci Sorell

Author:Traci Sorell [Sorell, Traci]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Published: 2020-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Host Drums and Drum Groups: These are groups

of men who offer the dance music by sitting around

a large drum, beating it with long sticks and singing a

variety of traditional songs and vocables (song words

that have no translated meaning, such as eh-yah or

fa-la-la). The powwow activity revolves around their

music. There is at least one drum at every powwow, but

usually there are several. The emcee announces which

drum group will perform each song at the powwow.

Dances: The dances at a powwow rely on the

drumbeat, which dictates the beginning and end of

the song and the pacing that dancers must follow.

Intertribals are non-contest dances in which everyone

can participate. They are led by the Head Man and

Head Woman. Male traditional dancers’ movements tell

stories about traditional hunts or battles, while women

represent their family and tribe through dignified steps.

Fancy dances display a man’s or woman’s physical

stamina to perform complex steps to the drum’s quick

beat. Grass dancers focus on maintaining balance

as each side of the body mimics the other through

intricate footwork and swaying torso.

Jingle Dress Dance: Rows of tiny cone-shaped metal

jingles or bells dangle from the dancer’s dress and strike

against one another as she moves. One of the dancer’s

feet must always remain in contact with the earth while

dancing. The dance is often considered a prayer for

healing. Dancers may privately receive gifts of tobacco

from others at the powwow and be asked to pray for an

ill family member when they dance at the public event.

The jingle dress dance originated in an Anishinabe/

Ojibwe healing ceremony in the Great Lakes region of

North America toward the end of World War I while

a flu epidemic raged worldwide. Maggie White, a

young Ojibwe girl of the

Naotkamegwanning First

Nation, became seriously ill.

Her father sought a vision

of how she might be cured.

In his vision, he received

instructions about how to

make a dress and how to

have Maggie wear it and

perform dance steps. Upon

doing the dance, Maggie

recovered. From there, the

Jingle Dress Dance Society

grew and later came to

involve dancing beyond the Ojibwe bands, and eventually

led to the present-day practice at powwows nationwide.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, jingle dress dancers

across Canada and the United States shared videos online

of themselves dancing in their homes or outside for all

people affected by the terrible disease.

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