Abandoned pow wow structure, Oregon
Aug 25, 2015 5:01:21 GMT
Post by DianeMP on Aug 25, 2015 5:01:21 GMT
A Pow wow is a traditional Native American gathering to dance, sing, drum, socialize, and honor forefathers. There are dancing and drumming competitions, and pow wows can be a one-day event or as long as a week for big gatherings of multiple tribal groups. They're wonders to behold and it's impossible to attend one without being moved by the cultures these gatherings celebrate. I've had the privilege of attending two. One in the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation of South Dakota in the 1960s. The second, in the early 2000s, was the large annual Stanford pow wow at Stanford University, California, where multiple tribes attend. Most modern pow wows have portable shade tents in a circle or permanent lumber circles.
Many pow wows are now held in large indoor arenas, but they are traditionally held outdoors. The form is a circle and the traditional structure is a circular wooden arbor built of lodge poles. Tree branches are piled on top for shade, but also cloth or tarps. This is the type of structure that was in the 1960s Pine Ridge pow wow. Dancing takes place in the middle while spectators and the drummers and singers sit in the shade. Here is the Grand Entry at the 2012 Pine Ridge pow wow (standing near the drummers will give you serious goose bumps and you will understand why hearing these songs terrified the white settlers):
They've replaced the old log structure with a huge lumber one - and there's grass! Times change.
About two years ago on Google Earth I saw a mysterious circular thing on the outskirts of Klamath Falls, Oregon, where I live. I recognized what it was and it seemed to be on private land. One day I accidentally stumbled upon it while photographing some old abandoned buildings. It was falling down and hard to see the circle at ground level. I can find no information about it, but it might be associated with the buildings, which were a residential drug/alcohol treatment center years ago. (Alcohol is a terrible problem in all Native tribes, not least the Klamath Tribes, so some treatment centers have sweat lodges, ceremonies and other ways for the Native clients to re-connect with their spiritual origins.) I really scored that day! Here it is and try to picture the circle:
The buildings I was photographing are in the background.
I wish this could be restored to its former glory! Here it is on Google Earth:
A little more about pow wows. One of the largest is the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Tribes from all of North America attend and that is a weekend affair. As you will see in photos, modern regalia is way more elaborate and colorful than traditional Native ceremonial attire. This makes the dance competitions, such as the Men's or Ladies' Fancy Dance, spectacular whirls of form and color. Dances themselves have also become "fancier" over time. A few purists are wary of these changes, but why not put on the most engaging show possible? This helps in getting younger generations involved, which is a side-benefit of modern pow wows. Each successive generation is at high risk of alcoholism and kids are less prone to this when they feel the warm arms of their community around them. (There are well-known causes of the internal emptiness that leads to substance abuse, not least is the profound destruction of one's cultural identity.)
Men's Fancy Dance Competition:
Native Americans are extremely proud of serving in the US military - I don't know if it is the same for Canadian First Nations, as they are called there. Why this is so, I do not know, but I'm certain these are complicated emotions. They also love their country, probably because it's theirs, really. In nearly every pow wow there is a special ceremony to honor veterans and you will see a contingent of them marching in the Grand Entry in the first video, at about 7:23.
Finally, the video below shows the two oldest known films of Indian drumming and dancing (audio was dubbed in recently). "Thomas Edison produced these films in his Black Maria studio New Jersey in 1894. The Native Americans performed the buffalo dance at the studio, so in that sense it is 'staged', but the date is authentic - 24th September 1894." Staging of photos and film of ethnographic material was common at that time (in fact still happens) due to the difficulty of capturing ceremonial events as they happened. The second dance you will see is a Ghost Dance, but the history and tragedy of the Ghost Dance movement would need an entire post of its own.
Many pow wows are now held in large indoor arenas, but they are traditionally held outdoors. The form is a circle and the traditional structure is a circular wooden arbor built of lodge poles. Tree branches are piled on top for shade, but also cloth or tarps. This is the type of structure that was in the 1960s Pine Ridge pow wow. Dancing takes place in the middle while spectators and the drummers and singers sit in the shade. Here is the Grand Entry at the 2012 Pine Ridge pow wow (standing near the drummers will give you serious goose bumps and you will understand why hearing these songs terrified the white settlers):
They've replaced the old log structure with a huge lumber one - and there's grass! Times change.
About two years ago on Google Earth I saw a mysterious circular thing on the outskirts of Klamath Falls, Oregon, where I live. I recognized what it was and it seemed to be on private land. One day I accidentally stumbled upon it while photographing some old abandoned buildings. It was falling down and hard to see the circle at ground level. I can find no information about it, but it might be associated with the buildings, which were a residential drug/alcohol treatment center years ago. (Alcohol is a terrible problem in all Native tribes, not least the Klamath Tribes, so some treatment centers have sweat lodges, ceremonies and other ways for the Native clients to re-connect with their spiritual origins.) I really scored that day! Here it is and try to picture the circle:
The buildings I was photographing are in the background.
I wish this could be restored to its former glory! Here it is on Google Earth:
A little more about pow wows. One of the largest is the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Tribes from all of North America attend and that is a weekend affair. As you will see in photos, modern regalia is way more elaborate and colorful than traditional Native ceremonial attire. This makes the dance competitions, such as the Men's or Ladies' Fancy Dance, spectacular whirls of form and color. Dances themselves have also become "fancier" over time. A few purists are wary of these changes, but why not put on the most engaging show possible? This helps in getting younger generations involved, which is a side-benefit of modern pow wows. Each successive generation is at high risk of alcoholism and kids are less prone to this when they feel the warm arms of their community around them. (There are well-known causes of the internal emptiness that leads to substance abuse, not least is the profound destruction of one's cultural identity.)
Men's Fancy Dance Competition:
Native Americans are extremely proud of serving in the US military - I don't know if it is the same for Canadian First Nations, as they are called there. Why this is so, I do not know, but I'm certain these are complicated emotions. They also love their country, probably because it's theirs, really. In nearly every pow wow there is a special ceremony to honor veterans and you will see a contingent of them marching in the Grand Entry in the first video, at about 7:23.
Finally, the video below shows the two oldest known films of Indian drumming and dancing (audio was dubbed in recently). "Thomas Edison produced these films in his Black Maria studio New Jersey in 1894. The Native Americans performed the buffalo dance at the studio, so in that sense it is 'staged', but the date is authentic - 24th September 1894." Staging of photos and film of ethnographic material was common at that time (in fact still happens) due to the difficulty of capturing ceremonial events as they happened. The second dance you will see is a Ghost Dance, but the history and tragedy of the Ghost Dance movement would need an entire post of its own.
