Red Electric Powwow

Unique traditions, language, beliefs and values all comprise Indigenous culture. It is critical that a meaningful appreciation of their culture

The first powwow that Sawaquat went to taught him that people viewed his heritage as a pastime. The powwow featured hobbyist who dressed up as Native Americans and acted like Native Americans would at a traditional powwow. This made Sawaquat feel ridiculous and it made it look like Native Americans were a joke. It was even harder for Sawaquat to see what the hobbyist were doing to his heritage because he was in a time of questioning and searching for his identity and this event was a step back for him. Sawaquat’s search for self-discovery led him down a path of disappointment.

Misrepresentation of Natives on screen throughout the 20th century has had an adverse effect on them. Whether it was positive or negative stereotypes, Natives felt the effect of Hollywood and began to lose their self-identity, their honour, and their pride. Reel Injun takes a look at how movies have defined an entire race and also documents the rebirth of the Native identity after decades of destructive Hollywood movies by interviewing notable Native actors, actresses, and activists. By doing so, director Neil Diamond hopes to silence Hollywood stereotypes and get Hollywood to properly represent the Native people.

Postmedia News released an article named "A Tribe Called Red Bring Culture, Politics to Club Music" in November 5, 2012 by a Stuart Derdeyn. The article presents a view into the underground world of "Pow Wow Step", which is a recently new trend in genre due to the popularity of electronic music .This recent genre is presented by a group named in the title, A Tribe Called Red (or ATCR) are involved in the intricacy of traditional views of Native culture and contemporary views, which incorporates both of these elements by having the perspective of the concept that culture has to evolve with the change that we have in our modern era.

This rhetorical analysis will define the ethos and pathos in “Allowing the Mind to Wander” by Carole Giangrande. The importance of this article rests on an emotional plea, which provides the reader with a call for justice to the plight of indigenous people in Canadian society. This rhetorical device is part of the pathos of Giangrande’s (1990) article that evokes sadness and pity in the way that white Canadian society has alienated and marginalized the First Peoples. More so, the ethos of the article reveals the problem of an apathetic society that has lost the spirit of the 1960s Civil Rights era, which is desperately needed in the 21st century. The loss of cultural respect for the First Peoples reveals the problem of a white hegemonic society as part of a modern trend in political activism. Giangrande (1990) presents these rhetorical devices to show the loss of moral and civic activism to defend the indigenous peoples of Canada. In essence, this rhetorical analysis will define the importance of pathos and ethos in “Allowing the Mind to Wander” by Carole Giangrande.

Discrimination of Aboriginal culture and way of life has also been a pressing issue during the years between 1945 and 2010. Canada, as nation that promotes equality, has done a terrible job demonstrating it. False stereotypes and perceptions of Native American people are very common in society today and back then. It is most common in the media because it is seen by almost everyone and has a considerable influence on peoples perspective on an idea, whether their aboriginal or not. Media reaches everywhere, from movies to the new and from advertisement to literature, it gets coverage. In the media aboriginals only ever get minor roles with a lack of identity in their characters, but when they are recognized, they are seen as

Attending my first Native American powwow was a very intriguing cultural experience to be apart of, and that I was grateful I was able to attend. This was an event that I would not have attended if it were not for this project and I ended up learning a lot about this culture that is around us. Every Native American tribe has their own version of this culture, however, all tribes gather in a powwow, a cultural event that strengthens the unity of the tribe. My informants name is Gary Watson, an elderly man, who has attended powwows for many years. He and his wife were participants in the powwow this year and were also there to watch their grandchildren participate for the first time. I

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.

Native Americans make up less than .9% of the United States population. With this trivial number, it is difficult to keep its culture and traditions alive as generations progress. In the short story “War Dances,” author Sherman Alexie morns the loss of Native American identity through a deprecating tone which illustrate a divide between generations.

Sue Kerr, author of “When White Women Magazines Disregard Indigenous Women of Color”, expresses her thoughts on Whirl Magazine and co-founder Christine Tumpson’s event logo’s effect on indigenous women in Pittsburgh. A women’s networking event hosted by Whirl was titled “POW WOW” which left native women feeling attacked. As a result, comments left on the event’s Facebook page regarding the truth behind the use of the acronym were taken down. As a result, a statement brought from Whirl stated that the acronym was not used in connection to native people or native cultures. Supporters of the event stated that Christine Tumpson is not racist, but other locals in Pittsburg thought otherwise. Not only did the Native American community feel

When a powwow is held, it gives singers and dancers a time to showcase those to other people. “Language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior, family patterns, and political systems are examples of nonmaterial culture.” (Kendall, 2014 pg. 45) Nonmaterial culture is “the abstract, or intangible human creations of society that influence people’s behavior” (Kendall, 2014 pg. 45). Without our native language, which is rarely spoken anymore, is slowly making its way back and more and more of our younger generation is speaking it due to programs being initiated in our preschools and in our elementary/high schools.

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

Palmer tells stories about her art of asking. She uses twitter to send out tweets and her fans will respond, giving her band a place to stay, eat, or just hang out. Palmer continues to grab the audience’s attention with perplexity. It’s not often you’ll hear of someone couch surfing and crowd surfing. These personal stories give Palmer strong credibility because she went through these experiences first hand. Testimony is used as a support material when Palmer tells the story of pulling up to a poor neighborhood in Miami and finding out the 18-year-old girl they were supposed to stay with lived with the rest of her family, all undocumented immigrants from Honduras. The mother says, "Your music has helped my daughter so much. Thank you for staying here. We 're all so grateful." This quote proves Palmer’s point that they all give and receive so much from each other. When people genuinely see each other, they want to help each other. This goes back to Palmer’s thesis of artists being directly supported by fans.

This also ties into history and biography. The First Nation youth suicide is a public issues, which is noticed by the children’s advocate of Saskatchewan (Corey O'Soup) and Professor Chris Lalande of Victoria. The youths who commit suicide did not take their own life because of their personal troubles, but instead of the outside factors. Being bullied is a public issue has this occurs to many people all over the world. Education is one way to combat bullying. Schools and mental health support are a part of the structure, and the indigenous youth is a part of the agency. The history and biography behind indigenous communities have strong ties to drug abuse, and lack of social assistance. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux states “Legacy goes back to the historic trauma that was experienced in many of our communities, especially in the north where it hasn't necessarily been adequately dealt with"(CBC, 2016). In the podcast, a speaker from the Sask. First Nation group, notes that there is an urgent need for the government and Indigenous communities to develop a better relationship --- where politics should be kept separate. The First Nations and the government had a complicated relationship from early encounters. The government worked actively attempting to assimilate First Nations people by restricting their cultural

Each individual makes up the society as it is, and various characteristics and beliefs makes up an individual. Although, individual lives together with a variety of personal ideologies, emotions, cultures, and rituals, they all differentiate one person from the other making up one’s own identity. This identity makes up who one is inside and out, their behaviour, actions, and words comes from their own practices and values. However, the profound history of Indigenous people raises question in the present about their identities. Who are they really? Do we as the non-native people judge them from the outside or the inside? Regardless of whether the society or the government were involved in their lives, they faced discrimination in every