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.

Where's Indiana Jones?

This semester, I'm taking a class called "Native Peoples of North America." It's actually an anthropology class, but also within the "American Indian and Native Studies" (AINS) program. They offer both undergraduate and graduate certificates in "Native American Studies" which are earned concurrently with your degree (so I'll earn the graduate certificate along with an English Master's degree).

This class is divided into a "lecture class" (Tuesdays and Thursdays), which meets in an auditorium-like room in the English-Philosophy Building (my home away from home, while I get my English degree), and a "discussion" class meeting on Mondays.

The lecture class is just that - the instructor lectures us on important info based on the readings she's assigned.

And the discussion class? It's lead by the T.A. (teaching assistant), where she leads us in discussion on what we've learned/will learn in our lecture classes.

The discussion class is in the anthropology building, MacBride Hall.

MacBride Hall

Doesn't it totally look like an anthropology building?

Well, let me tell you - inside, it is very much like an anthropology building. You walk in and there are marble columns, tile floors, ornate metal railings, and an immediately noticeable old, dusty, musty, "old building" smell to it. There are even those old, steamy radiators, sizzling as they overheat the classrooms. Plus, there's a museum of natural sciences in there - my first thought was, "Whoa, taxidermy central!" There are some stuffed animals in there (for instance, I saw some sort of leopard . . . and by stuffed, I obviously don't mean kids' toy stuffed animals) and replicas of horseshoe crabs and other things. I didn't get a chance to look around because I'd gotten there just about 5-10 minutes before class started. One day, I'll have to get there early enough to look around in the museum and, if possible, take some photos.

The T.A., I found out, actually has a Master's degree in archaeology, but has an interest in anthropology, and experience with (if I remember correctly) the study of Native Americans from the Plains group (think nomadic/semi-nomadic peoples who ride horses, hunting buffalo, like the Cheyenne or Lakota, as opposed to, say, the Southwestern tribes like Navajos, Hopis, Mescalero Apaches, or Northeastern Woodland cultures like the Mohawk, Narraganset, and such).

So, knowing she's got a degree in archaeology, plus being in this old educational building . . . well, I couldn't help but think about Indiana Jones and all the exciting adventures everyone's favorite fictional archaeologist finds himself in. 

Anyway, I decided to use Picnik to make my photo of MacBride Hall look worthy of a post mentioning good, ol' archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones' era - in other words, old-timey. So here it is:

The same photo of MacBride Hall, made to look like it's old.

(I actually took this photo today before I headed to my other class, because I'd forgotten to bring my camera with me on both Monday and Tuesday! Yes, I'm surprised, too, because I almost always have it with me!!)