Descriptive Essay About Wow

Different aspects of dances all represent something special and meaningful to each specific tribe. Firstly, the purposes of the Native American’s dances are for entertainment, religious rituals, successful hunts, harvests, to give thanks, prayer, victory, mythology, along with many more. (Weiser- Alexander and Alexander) In the video Native American Indian

A Native American Pow Wow is the Native American ceremonies which have evolved from a formal ceremony of the past into a modern variety of dance, family reunion, and festival. It contains with the colorful tribal dance contests, handmade product, crafts show, tipis, and singing. As a social skill, Powwow is the Native American’s best way of meeting together to join in dancing, singing, making new friends. Dances play an essential part of the life of the Native American. Over the years, even dance styles and content have changed, but their profound meaning and importance have not.

The Shawnee Indians were know for a style of dance called the Stomp Dance. Men, women, and children would participate in this dance. During this dance, a lead man would dance one round, in a counter-clockwise circle and sing. Then, alternating women and men would line up behind the leader in a single-file with the children at the end. This dance is performed during the summer several times a year. They are danced on ceremonial grounds which was usually a square dance area with a fire. The Shawnee Indians do this dance to celebrate their culture.

" We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. Every great event, such as a triumphant return from battle, or other cause of public rejoicing, is celebrated in public dances, which are accompanied with songs and music suited to the occasion. The assembly is separated into four divisions, which dance either apart or in succession, and each with a character peculiar to itself. The first division contains the married men who in their dances frequently exhibit feats of arms, and the representation of a battle. To these succeed the married women who dance in the second division. The young men occupy the third; and the maidens the fourth. Each represents some interesting scene of real life, such

In the Iroquois Quiver Dance the first thing to strike the ear is what is often known as a “call and response” form. One singer announces a phrase of “lexical text,” known as the call, the other singer answers him in a vocal pattern. This continues throughout the song. In illustrating many of the musical styles among Native American music, this has another name known as the “Warrior’s Stomp Dance.” The voices in the Iroquois Quiver Dance are relatively relaxed compared with that of the Plains singing.

I hopped in Dad’s car to head to Disney World in Florida. It took us 30

Given that this “visit” was more like a virtual experience, I was still able to access a couple of my senses, just as if I was at the actual exhibition. Through the use of anecdotes and detailed images, I am able to see all of the personal experiences an individual had while practicing a particular dance and what it meant to them. In this exhibition, there are ten different dances displayed, including the: Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance, Yakama Girl’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Cubeo Óyne Dance, Yoreme Pajko’ora Dance, Mapuche Mütrüm Purun, Tlingit Ku.éex ' Entrance Dance, Lakota Men’s Northern Traditional Dance, Seminole Stomp Dance, Hopi Butterfly Dance, and finally, Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance). All parts of the exhibit were insightful, but the two that sparked my interest the most were the Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance and the Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance).

Laframboise, S & Sherbina, K. (2008). Dancing to Eagle Spirit Society. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from http://www.dancingtoeaglespiritsociety.org/medwheel.php

The most interesting part that I found was the dancing part. The Native Indian are always good at express their emotion through the dancing. Every tribe has they own way to express the reverence for natural, the delight of hunting and the desire of victory. These wonderful conversations between the Manitou and people, has formed the special art in the Native American. Certainly, there are music accompany with dances, and the instrument are contain spiritual symbol as well. For instance, drum plays an important role in the Powwow. The article “Without the drum, there would be no Powwow” mention that “ Our drum has character, we have that powwow spirit, and people dance.” Drum is not only represent the core of Native people faith, but also is the heartbeat of the creator. Powwow drum are often make by circle, because circle stands for lifecycle. People surrounding and beat the drum, like the life turning and returning.

Pow wows aren’t just started as a dancing and singing get together. Pow wows start with Grand Entries. A “Grand Entry” is an entering of all of the people. During the pow wow grand entry everyone is suppose to stand for the flags that are being brought in one by one. There are a lot of different flags that are brought into the arena. In the article, What is a Pow wow, “The flags carried generally include the U.S. Flag, Tribal Flags, the POW Flag, and Eagle Staffs of various Native Nations present”. The flags mean a lot to the Native american culture. In the pow wows the flags are usually carried by veterans. After the veterans come in, more important guest come in like the tribal chiefs, princesses, elders, and Pow wow organizers. These guests are very important when it comes to Pow wows. The next people following in line from the important guest are the men dancers, and then also the women. Once everyone in the line of

Eucalyptus Grove comes alive with the beat of the drums, sending chills of power trickling down your spine. All around you are people, over 30,000 weaving in and out of over 100 booths. Despite the tickle of your nose from the dust kicked up by the passionate dancers in the arena, you are greeted by the smell of foods representative of different tribes. The crowd is colorful in dress, face and purpose; the songs represent and evoke different emotions. You have just entered the Stanford American Indian Organization’s Annual Pow Wow.

Located at the center of the floor was the drum with its performers (all male), and the singers who were the male drummers and female singers. The female singers were seated just behind the male drummers in a circle. Prior to the initiation of the Powwow, many other things occurred. Miss Indian OU was crowned and everyone joined in celebration by dancing around the center drum. Male and female vocals could both be heard during this time. From here the honoring of certain individuals, families, and anniversaries occurred. It was then time for the Grand Entry. It is important to note that a prayer was carried out before this entry and all were asked to rise due to the presence of the Eagle Staff. The drums then initiated the Grand Entry and well over 100 dancers arrived on the floor. Each Plains dance type from Jingle Dress Dancers to Fancy Dancers was present. Regalia varied between each dance group and during the Grand Entry they each danced their own individual dance.

I only remember going to one powwow in my life. It was several years ago when I was just a child at the Cherokee National Holiday celebration. I have seen some other Native dancers at different events but never formal powwows. I have always wanted to see more, but I have never had an opportunity to see another one. So, when I saw I had an assignment where I was required to go to an American Indian event, I knew I wanted to see another powwow. I looked on the Oklahoma Tourism website and found the nearest one to where I live. It was the Restoring Harmony / Stand to Power Powwow at the Westside YMCA in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I learned a lot about modern tribal initiatives dealing with health, culture, and intertribal relations.

The dancers represent how they are all moving together to a rhythm that binds them together, not as dancers, but as human beings. It represents how everything is bound together, but this connection is lost by many of the characters. They distance themselves from their connections to relatives and to the Earth through the actions of the government and their own decisions.

In chapter ten, author Bruno Nettle takes the reader to the town of Browning, Montana, where he is about to witness a modern Native American ceremony. As he observes, he notices that only one-half of the people there are actual Native Americans. The rest are are white tourists and innocent observers just like himself. Eventually, somewhere around eighteen singing groups appear from different tribes and reservations. They will be summoning the dancers into what is known as the grand entry. Nettle notices that the overall style of the music remains the same among all of the different groups, or `drums.' People are able to interact by taking pictures, video and tape recording what goes on. In that