2013 Pow Wow

This past weekend, we headed to the University of Iowa's 20th Annual Pow Wow. We've been attending the University's pow wow since I started classes there in 2011, having learned in my Native American Literature class that the University holds one annually.

Here's a great explanation of what a pow wow is, as explained in this year's program (you can click on the photo to get a bigger view of the wording):

This year, Livie was really excited about attending the pow wow. Having been to the two previous years' events, she remembered all the colorful regalia, the drumming, the singing, and the food.

Plus, there's just a . . . a "vibe" about it, where you can even feel the drumming, in addition to just hearing it with your ears. It's a visceral effect, the vibrations literally resonating within your body (if you're standing in just the right spot).

I'm posting two brief clips of the Grand Entrance, in hopes that they will work (they're each just under 30 seconds).  You'll be able to see the Color Guard from the Meskwaki American Legion (from Tama, IA) with the flags in this first video clip:

 Towards the end of this second video clip, you'll be able to hear the "jingle" from the ladies who are wearing "jingle dresses":

Anyway, I'm not going to talk too much about it; instead, I'll just let the still photos do the talking.

By the way, just as a note: the lighting in the University of Iowa's Recreation Building isn't the best for either iPhones or my Canon PowerShot (something very much like this camera), and since I got the camera as a hand-me-down (my dad had gotten a new camera and handed off this little camera to me, sans instruction booklet). So instead of fiddling with my camera and trying to get the adjustments just right with the lighting and action (it would've been hit-or-miss), I just did my best with my point-and-shoot phone camera.

 Young pow wow dancers are waiting for their turn in the arena. (Instagram photo.)

Lunch! A fry bread (or "Indian"/"NDN") taco - ground beef with taco seasonings, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese on fry bread. Filling, but extremely tasty. (Instagram photo.)

Liv chose regular fry bread with a little bit of drizzled honey - very much like a Latin American sopaipilla. She couldn't wait to eat hers. They were freshly made and very hot, so she had to wait (very, VERY impatiently) for a couple minutes before digging in. (Regular iPhone photo.)

After eating our lunches, we decided to walk around the arena (inside the green "tennis/volleyball/basketball" area within the indoor track) to get closer, better views of the dancing and drumming. Also, there were vendors along the perimeter of the track, so we wanted to take a look at their wares. Obviously, there was a face painting booth. She chose a pink and black "half butterfly" pattern, which she LOVED wearing. (Regular iPhone photo.)

 This is an Instagram photo detailing some fantastic beading on a young woman's regalia. The beadwork is so detailed and intricate. I'll bet it took someone HOURS to make this - there were two (or three - I can't remember now) of these rectangular pieces as detailed in the photo above - the piece with the turquoise, cream/off-white, red, yellow, and uh, "sand"(?) colored beads.

 This is another Instagram photo of a woman's "jingle" dress. Those metallic objects are hollow cones. When the dress' wearer walks or dances, the cones clink against each other, making a jingling sound. It sounds fantastic listening to a group of women in jingle dresses dancing, especially with the drums and singing. 

This is a close-up Instagram shot of that same dress. I love the purple shiny material. This one was one of my favorite dresses. Another favorite (which I unfortunately didn't get a photo of) was a turquoise-colored jingle dress. 

 On the second day, Livie just HAD to get her face painted again. This time, as you can see, she chose a full-faced purple butterfly. (Regular iPhone photo.)

While we were still at the pow wow, I just so happened to notice I was receiving an in-coming phone call from my dad. The only reason I knew was because I was holding up my phone, ready to take a photo. This was during a dance, so the drummers were drumming and singing - with the poor acoustics causing echoing in the building, it was hard to hear, and nearly impossible to realize one's phone was ringing. 

I answered it, hoping we'd be able to hear each other. He said he was in the area and wanted to stop by to take us out to dinner. I'd mentioned we were at the pow wow and would be leaving in about 90 minutes (with a 45 minute drive home once we left). He said he was still a couple hours away, and what time did we think we'd get home? Well, it would be a while, even if he were still on the road a couple hours away - that would make planning a "what time should we meet?" tricky.

I told him we could meet in Coralville, IA, at a BBQ restaurant just off of I-80, knowing he'd be taking I-80 westbound to get home after his "Sunday drive." We were just minutes away from Coralville, and much farther away from home. 

That worked out, as he was east of us in Muscatine, IA, heading west. And he'd be in our area (Iowa City/Coralville) around the time we were planning to leave, anyway. Plus, all he'd have to do after dinner is to keep heading west and he'd be home within a couple hours. When the weather's nice, he'll occasionally take a "Sunday drive" and end up in eastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin, southern Minnesota, or the like - he LOVES driving the open road.

We ended up meeting him at a place called Bandana's BBQ in Coralville, IA around 5 PM. Livie chose the kids' rib basket (2 ribs, some garlic bread, corn, and BBQ beans). I chose the pulled pork sandwich and BBQ beans. My dad and Andrew both chose the BBQ sausage, beans, corn, okra and garlic bread. It hit the spot. We wrapped up with freshly made donut holes, which tasted exactly like funnel cake from the State Fair! 

As soon as we were finished, we said goodbye to my dad. Nonno (meaning "grandpa" in Italian) then headed to his car and we headed to ours. Livie immediately said, "I miss Nonno already." 

Fortunately, we'll be seeing them next month, probably. They live about 140 miles from us (about a 2.5 hour drive), and we usually make it out to their house about once a month. 

All in all it was a fantastic weekend.

If you're interested, here's our "Trip Report" from our first UI Pow Wow in 2011, as well as our "Trip Report" for the 2012 Pow Wow.

19th Annual Pow Wow

Today was the first day of the two-day 19th Annual University of Iowa Pow Wow. Andrew, Livie, and I went, and we had a great time. (We went last year, too. You can read that report here, including some photos and short video clips.)

We'd gotten to the university's Recreation Center just before noon after a 40 minute drive, (hit the rest rooms), and Livie and I set out to get something to eat.

She'd been talking and talking about fry bread, something typically found at pow wows and Native American gatherings. It's very much like a sopaipilla (which you may be familiar with if you've ever eaten in the Southwest).

She'd gotten just the plain fry bread. And I got the "Indian" taco, which is fry bread topped with taco stuff (ground beef, grated cheese, lettuce, tomatoes). We were both so hungry that I completely forgot to take a photo. As a matter of fact, I hadn't realized until just this moment that I never even thought to get a photo!

Anyway, around 1:15 PM, they had the drummer role call - each group of drummers played their drums for a short while. Then they had the "Grand Entrance," which is when all the participants line up in their regalia and dance into the center dance area, accompanied by the drummers and singers who do their thing. The vibrations from the drums are an incredible feeling, which you can feel going through your body to a mesmerizing beat!

They'd had a couple opening songs (about victory and also one honoring veterans) and then they started the dances (with numerous categories for type of dance, age, and so forth (specifics like, girls', boys', men's, women's).

Okay, so I'd wanted to take a lot of photos, but with the way seating was set up around the dance area, as well as how the vendors' booths were, it was hard for me to get a clear shot, so I didn't get too many. But I did get a few using both my new iphone and my trusty little digital camera.

Here are a few of the photos I captured today. Okay, keep in mind, they were taken with either a Canon PowerShot or iphone, in less than adequate lighting. So some of them came out grainy. And some, which I tried to fix, didn't come out how I'd wanted. Others, I used Picnik (for one of the last times) and its special effects.

A dancer is ready and waiting for the start. 

Herky the Hawkeye, the University of Iowa's mascot.

 

Ladies in motion.

Dancers are waiting.

Regalia details on a waiting dancer. 

A young man, mid-dance (and a judge looking on).

More dancing.

Pow Wow Time at the University!

Yesterday, Livie, Andrew, and I went to the 18th Annual Pow Wow at the University of Iowa. It was a BLAST! (Just a note: I took some photos and videos, but it was with my little point 'n' shoot Kodak Easyshare C340, so they're not the best photos. But they're good enough to give you an idea.)

We first went out for breakfast; we'd gone to Hy-Vee (a grocery store chain in the area), because they had a cafeteria. Liv and I had gotten pancakes (I had no idea they'd be the size of dinner plates!) and bacon, plus mine came with a side of eggs (scrambled). Andrew got eggs, toast, hash browns. The portions were HUGE (I didn't know they'd be so gigantic), so we walked out of there well fed.

After our commute down to the university (about 45 minutes), we found the Rec Building. Doors opened at 10 AM, but we'd gotten there around 11:30 AM. It worked out just right, because that's the time I'd wanted to arrive. The "Grand Entrance" was scheduled for noon, and I didn't want to miss it; by arriving 30 minutes early, I wanted to be sure we had time to park, buy our tickets, go potty, and take a look around.

Anyway, the "Grand Entrance" is where all the pow wow participants line up and dance into the dance area - all done up in their regalia - while the drummers and singers provide the music.

Well, I guess there was a technical issue with the loudspeaker equipment, so the emcee kept us up-to-date and entertained (with lots of talking and stories) while the issue was resolved. (Half the center could hear and understand him, loud and clear. The other half? While the volume was fine, the clarity was not - he sounded really garbled.

 Here's a shot of the Rec Building about 15 minutes before the festivities started.

After working on the equipment for about 20-25 minutes, the Grand Entrance finally started around 12:30. That made me remember something my Native American Literature professor had said: it's rare for a pow wow to start on time, since there's usually a glitch. He was right, at least for this pow wow!

The Grand Entrance was awesome to watch and to feel - the drums caused this great vibration, and you could feel it in your core. Yes, putting it that way kinda sounds spiritual, but it was, in a sense. I was totally absorbed.

Here's a shot of the Grand Entrance.

After a song about victory, and another thanking veterans for serving our country (which was awesome - I got a little teary-eyed), the dancing, singing, and drumming started.

Livie couldn't sit still; she kept getting up and dancing to the beat. It was hard not to - the beat was mesmerizing. Since it was in the "rec" center, there was an indoor track in the building. Inside the track oval, was the tennis (and volleyball?) area, which is where the dancing occurred, sans nets, of course. Livie couldn't sit still, so we'd get up and walk around the track, and we were still able to watch the dancing. She'd dance along beside me as we walked around.

Our full bellies eventually digested our breakfast, leaving us hungry again. There were food vendors, so we went and got a couple fry breads. These are akin to sopaipillas or funnel cakes. They can be sweet or savory, depending on the toppings. For instance, you could order a taco, with the fry bread as the "tortilla." Or you could get one with a bit of honey on it, or even powdered sugar.

Livie and I ordered ours plain, because I like to savor the taste of it, and I wanted to see how Liv liked it before we got one with stuff loaded onto it. No photo - we gobbled 'em up too fast! Oh, and some time later, Andrew bought some bison jerky. It was really good - some of it was regular, and some was super spicy. We at a little, and the rest we saved for later.

At one point, I ran into a professor who is also the adviser for the American Indian Studies Program at UI.  She and I spoke for a few minutes, and I introduced her to Andrew and Livie. (I mispronounced her name and was so embarrassed; she was so gracious, though, about helping me pronounce it correctly.) I'd mentioned that Livie really enjoyed dancing to the drumming/singing. She said that later on, if time permitted, there'd be an "Inter-tribal" dance, where anybody could go in the middle to dance. She said if that occurred, we could go in and have fun.

I hoped that we'd be able to take part, and hoped that Livie would not get too pooped/crabby and want to leave before the Inter-tribal dance took place.

Well, thankfully, she did a great job the whole day! And we were there for a while! But the whole atmosphere was amazing, so we really did have a lot of fun.

Buying her this purple butterfly/feather hair clip helped keep her chipper!

 The gentleman in the yellow regalia was a spectacular dancer; I enjoyed watching him. But all the dancers were absolutely amazing!

I ran into my Native American Literature professor late in the afternoon. I was hoping to introduce Livie to him, but she and Andrew were off looking at something while I was getting some bottled waters. My professor and I talked for a few minutes, and I told him how one thing or another reminded me of stuff we talked about in class. We laughed about some funny stuff we'd talked about and I suddenly missed my Uncle Hector. It was just that kind of conversation "UH" and I would've had. Before we parted ways with a "see you later," he reminded me to have Livie dance in the Inter-tribal, to which I agreed.

Livie was about to explode with excitement. Andrew backed away, refusing to take part. I told her to go ahead and I'd take photos. But when she gave me the pouty lip look, I went in with her. I was a bit nervous at first, but then got into it, again being mesmerized by the drumming and singing. This was a blast, even though Livie suddenly got really shy partway through, and made me carry her, all 37.6 pounds of her.

For me, "dancing" in the Inter-tribal was the highlight.

Here are a couple video clips of the dancing. 

The gentleman in the yellow (on the far side of the dance area), with all the yellow fringe swinging about - I loved watching him dance. When Livie and I were out "dancing," he was out there, near us, and it was so incredibly cool seeing him dance up close. But they were ALL incredible to watch.

Video ©Sonya Heilmann April 2011

Liv and I enjoyed watching these girls performing a "jingle dance" in their "jingle" dresses. They had these metal (aluminum?) cones sewn onto their dresses. These conical bells would jingle when they moved.

Video ©Sonya Heilmann April 2011