Powwow
“My heart jumps happy when I . . . hear that music” (Ellis). Ray Littleturtle was a well-known Native American political activist, especially when it came to promoting and participating in powwows as a dancer and emcee. In the late 19th century there were different words used to describe what we now call a powwow – Doing, Fair, Feast and Happening just to name a few. “The term “powwow” is actually a North Eastern Woodland word belonging to the Narragansett Language and the closest English translation is “meeting” (Sanchez).The details of how these “meetings” (or powwows) came to be is not clearly known, but there is speculation it may have started by the Grass Dance Society in the late 19th century, which may have been a collaboration of the Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, Dakota, or Winnebago tribes. Another theory is similar; during the time of the Trail of Tears when tribes were forced onto reservations, they would meet other tribes along the way. These tribes may have used the dances to reenact events, telling the stories over and over to keep history alive (Cartee). It was a way tribes with different languages could communicate meaningfully. Powwows became the way tribes could peacefully interact and still have competitions, essentially taking the place of skirmishes they may have had previously (Sanchez).
Spirituality of the drum
“They could listen to what it (the drum) said. Those songs, they really mean so much to our people.” (Ellis) Songs are a form of telling stories to others, making sure that the history and events of that particular person or tribe are told to the younger generations. New songs are written to honor someone who may have passed but has done great things for their nation. It is a great honor and show of respect to have the tribe create your story in music. “The Shawnee would rather sing. The artificial means for making music are all right, but it’s better to use the natural one; it’s better to sing. However, despite their high evaluation of the human voice, the Shawnee have used and still do use a number of native musical instruments.” (Voegelin).
A drum has been explained as the heartbeat of the Native American culture; they believe the drum has a life of its own, as well as its own powerful spirit. It carries the heartbeat of Mother Earth and calls the spirits and nations together, while bringing back balance in a person’s life through the heartbeat of the drum, aligning the spiritual and mental sides with the physical.
Women have historically been excluded from sitting around the drum. It relates not to any restrictions on women’s expressive potential, but rather to the power of their bodies. They have the ability to purify their bodies monthly when they menstruate, a time of the month that may be referred to as their ‘moon time.’ Men, on the other hand, do not
have this power and must drum to acquire the same spiritual strength (Motley).