50 Years of Celebration: The Dance for Mother Earth Powwow

Sat, 09/28/2024 - 6:45pm

When: 2024

"In 1972, when many aspects of Native American religions and sacred ceremonies were still prohibited by law, American Indians at the University of Michigan (AIUM) held their first powwow in Ann Arbor. Over the years, the Native American Student Association (NASA), consisting of community members and students, evolved into a group fully dedicated to making the powwow a success. In March of 2024, the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 50 Years of Celebration: The Dance for Mother Earth Powwow, a variety of voices from multiple generations share what the powwow has meant to them." - Filmmaker Jen Howard

Transcript

• [00:00:37] [MUSIC]
• [00:00:37] SHARON GEORGE: I didn't grow up going to powwows or knowing particularly about our traditions. When I came to my first powwow, I was probably about 14,15 years old, and I just loved it. I felt that spirit there as soon as I came. It's like it goes through you. It was almost like when you go home and you feel that joy going home and your family's there, and you get to hug and know everybody. We may have closer ties to, an individual that has grown up at a Powwow circuit than we do with our own family.
• [00:01:29] JAMES WHITE BULL: Well, I grew up around it. I would guess I was at the first pile. I was six years old, so I don't remember too much, but I do remember there being a drama and a dancer. Apparently, that was George Martin. It was at Huron High School for a while. Eventually, it got so big that we did came into Crisler arena. That was amazing to see that many dancers.
• [00:01:48] SHARON GEORGE: I came here in 1978 with my current husband. That was our first date. Many years later, we're--been married and still coming to the Powwow.
• [00:02:02] BRITTANY AMARAL: I came to the powwow today because I'm part Native American, and I think it's a really awesome way to connect with my culture, especially in a state that is not where I live. I'm from the North East. The tribes that are here are very different from my own family, but the culture is very much similar. It's really cool to be able to experience the culture of the indigenous tribes here in Michigan and see the similarities and visit all the vendors and learn about the different indigenous issues that are going on today.
• [00:02:32] KATE LEESON: I'm not Native American descent at all. I've never been to a powwow before. I'm just here because I think as a student at the University of Michigan that's on native grounds, it's good to learn about where that land came from and the people who are from here.
• [00:02:49] SHANNON MARTIN: You get a chance, see the film Bad River. It's in theaters now. Ann Arbor, you need to see the film. [APPLAUSE] Beautiful tribe in Northern Wisconsin is fighting Enbridge, and a fight that is beyond its lifespan.
• [00:03:08] KARA BRYDEN: I've been practicing beadwork since I was about 13, so it's been almost 40 years. My beadwork specifically is called peyote stitch. I use it around stones. I use it to make medicine bags. More, traditionally, it was done around drumsticks and pipes as part of the Native American church peyote ceremony. I've tried to keep it up so that I can help teach more people how to do it so that it doesn't die out, but it's something that I love doing, and I love sharing it with other people.
• [00:03:36] RON KYLLONEN: We provide a lot of stuff for people to make their regalia with: fur, leathers, finishes up here where they can put stuff on their regalia. We have feathers. We have all different types of stuff here.
• [00:03:54] JAMES WHITE BULL: I always appreciate the drums. That was something I was really into as a child. I was one of the little ones running around most of the time. It's nice to be older and be able to sit through it and re-experience all that stuff. It's always nice to see the young ones carrying on traditions. They all look like they're only 20 something, so that's great.
• [00:04:15] [MUSIC]
• [00:04:26] DOUGLAS THOMAS: They judge us on the clearness of our singing, and the timing of our beats, and then just overall sound, the song and stuff. I've been singing and dancing since I could walk since I was little. As for the dancing, they judge you on your outfit and your dance and your moves, whatnot, and your timing and your rhythm and stuff.
• [00:04:52] KARA BRYDEN: The jingle cones were made traditionally from tobacco snuff can lids, and they come either already rolled into cone shapes or flat, and you roll them yourself. But anyone that makes a jingle dress and attaches the cone rolls, the cone is going to pray over each cone. Sometimes there's even dresses that are made of 365 cones in which one cone was attached every single day for a year. The process to make one is held in high regard. It's a labor of love. When you dance and the cones clink together like bells, it's supposed to resemble the falling of water. Ojibwe people, the women are the caretakers of the water and so when we dance in this dress, we're praying for each other, we're praying for healing. We're praying for the healing of the water, especially too.
• [00:05:40] MA-KOONSE AQUASH: Ma-Koonse means Little Bear in Ojibwe, so my English name would be Little Bear, and my nato name would be the Ma-Koonse. The dance I'm doing right now is called grass dance. I've been doing it since I was five. We get two songs today for competition and then tomorrow, we get one song for competition. After that, they tally up the marks and the score you get, and then they decide who wins. Powwow is really important to us because it's a way that we embrace our culture and it's also a type of ceremony and at one point, we couldn't do that. When we do this, we're showing that we're still here and we love doing it, and it's our way of embracing our culture. I think we all take pride into doing what we're doing.
• [00:06:21] DEBBIE HILLEBRAND: 1990 might have been my first one, and so pretty much every year that I could come. I'd probably been to 20 or 30 [LAUGHTER], I don't know. I'm always so grateful that powwows exist where others, non native folk are invited in because it's really an opportunity to learn, and I'm all about learning. I teach music, which makes this even more important, so it's a fabulous powwow. [APPLAUSE]
• [00:06:49] NATHAN ISAAC: That's how we do it on Sunday afternoon at the 50th Annual Dance for Mother Earth Powwow.
• [00:06:59] [MUSIC]