Lynne Dyer, 58, awoke at dawn Saturday, decided to showcase her Native American tradition.
Maryland
Native American powwow returns to U-Md. to showcase culture, history
She was amongst lots of of attendees — each Native American and non-Native — who attended the occasion on the Adele H. Stamp Scholar Union. Organizers at U-Md. had hosted powwows within the Nineteen Nineties, then ended the custom. They restarted in 2019, however the pandemic had altered plans for the previous three years. The Saturday occasion was the primary to be held within the pandemic period, bringing collectively members of varied tribes for a celebration of tradition.
Organizers say Saturday’s attendance was the best in years on the powwow, which was hosted by the Native American and Indigenous Scholar Union, and the Workplace of Multicultural Involvement and Group Advocacy.
“It’s been an important turnout,” mentioned Kota Harley, 25, an organizer from the Piscataway Conoy tribe in Southern Maryland. “It’s wonderful, and we’re glad to know the group is right here to assist Native Individuals, and it provides us an opportunity to point out what goes on within the Native group.”
Greater than 70 p.c of Native Individuals stay away from their tribal communities, with powwows giving them alternatives to collect and reconnect with others from totally different tribes and to honor their historical past and heritage. Powwows are “a celebration of being Native,” mentioned Dennis Zotigh, a powwow historian and cultural specialist on the Nationwide Museum of the American Indian in Washington.
Zotigh served because the grasp of ceremonies Saturday and sometimes gave the gang a brief historical past lesson. The land the place the campus sits, officers reminded, was as soon as a part of the Piscataway tribe’s homeland.
Zotigh defined different Native American traditions such because the “Flag Track,” are thought-about to be as vital as “The Star Spangled Banner” to many Native Individuals. He mentioned seeing the U.S. flag come onto Indian lands as soon as signified “dying, destruction, genocide and removing.” However after Native Individuals fought in World Wars I and II “they got here again with new respect for the flag and for his or her nation,” Zotigh mentioned.
Two drum teams — the Zotigh Singers and the Uptown Singerz — sang as dozens of dancers in full regalia, the standard outfits worn by Native Individuals in ceremonies and at powwows, celebrated their heritage. Zotigh mentioned the teams performed a mixture of songs: previous, conventional or extra modern.
“We wish folks to know — and see — that we’re nonetheless following and carrying on these traditions, whilst our ancestors went by a lot,” Zotigh informed the gang.
Rick Sloan, 72, of Capitol Hill, mentioned he got here to the powwow as a result of he had by no means attended one and was curious to be taught extra about Native American tradition for a e-book he’s writing about tribes in Canada and Maine.
“It’s an unimaginable exhibiting of solidarity,” he mentioned as he watched the dancers and listened to the singing. “A lot of American Indian historical past is a black gap and unknown to the broader U.S. I needed to come back and see what it was like.”
Most up-to-date-day powwows began within the early nineteenth century. Traditionally, tribes didn’t have powwows as a result of they have been too far aside from one another, and in lots of circumstances, they have been enemies. “You wouldn’t be caught dancing in one other particular person’s powwow,” mentioned Zotigh, who’s Kiowa/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo/Isante Dakota.
The U-Md. powwow is one among lots of held across the nation annually, and it’s one of many few within the D.C. area. Usually, there are dozens every weekend hosted by tribes throughout the nation.
At U-Md., organizers mentioned it was particularly vital for Native Individuals to really feel like a part of a group as a result of there are so few Natives among the many college’s roughly 40,000 college students, based on organizers. Fewer than 1 p.c of the undergraduate college students on the Faculty Park campus have been American Indian or Alaska Native as of fall 2022.
“The Native inhabitants is sort of nonexistent on the campus, so we’re hoping this may let folks know we’re right here and we exist,” mentioned Ayden Allston, president of the Native American Scholar Union and a member of the Nottoway Indian tribe of Virginia.
Max Yamane, one of many powwow organizers and a member of the Uptown Singerz drum group, mentioned holding the powwow on campus is “good for Native college students and the group to allow them to see there are different folks like them.
“It’s an opportunity to point out Natives have a presence on the college,” he mentioned. “It’s about combating that invisibility.”
Misty Rose Nace, 45, who’s a part of the Brokenhead Ojibway and the Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nations in Canada, got here from her residence in Mechanicsville, Pa., along with her sons to bop on the powwow.
“It’s a superb, constructive exercise for my youngsters,” she mentioned. “It’s good for his or her coronary heart, their spirit, and it helps them to be pleased with who they’re.”