Cultural Event: Powwow at the Denver Indian Center

     On February 12, 2011 I attended a cultural event which I have had the fortune of attending numerous times in my life: A powwow. Due to the fact that I come from Native American heritage, my parents have always attempted to expose me to as many traditions as possible, but it has only been in the past couple of years that I have developed a true appreciation for these cultural events. When I was younger I did not realize how wonderfully unique these types of gatherings are and truly took them for granted. However, now that I attend a predominantly Caucasian university, I feel starved for events that display cultural traditions.
     Powwows are generally regarded as social gatherings that are open to the community, in which there are dancers, drum groups, vendors, and food. The dancers come from a wide range of age groups from tots to veterans, and each age and gender has its own categories. The dances performed are typically ones such as women's fancy dance, or men's traditional. Each dance has a certain type of clothing that goes with it, such as jingle dresses for the jingle dance. Every dancer is responsible for providing their own garb, but the clothing usually consists of bright colors, beading, and certain feathers or furs.
     My initial intent in going into the powwow at the Denver Indian Center was to actually promote a powwow that the Native Student Alliance at the University of Denver is coordinating. This is an event in which I am really looking forward to and I wanted to start getting the word out. I looked over some of the beautiful artwork created by the vendors and proceeded to ask the MC to announce the University of Denver powwow. Knowing the networking skills of Native Americans I feel like it will be fairly easy to find dancers and vendors to attend the powwow in the spring. I then took a couple of minutes to just sit down and watch all of the activity going on around me. There is always such an incredible amount of energy that flows around powwows and I love being a part of it. I was once told that the beat of the drum is like the heartbeat of Mother Earth, and it took me some time, but I finally understand.