Dream catchers

  Photos by COURTNEY STEWART Johnny Win, a
grass dancer from the Creek tribe, performs at the 16th Annual Pow
Wow at UCLA, held Saturday and Sunday.

By Lisa Klassen
Daily Bruin Reporter

Forget the war cries and face paint, the horses and tepees
““the American Indian Student Association’s 16th Annual
Pow Wow, “A New Circle of Voices,” dispelled these
stereotypes in favor of a realistic presentation and celebration of
Native American culture.

Throughout the weekend, the North Athletic Field housed a
multitude of dancers, vendors, musicians and craftspeople
representing approximately 50 to 60 different Native American and
Canadian tribes.

The event gave Native Americans a chance to gather, celebrate
their culture, and teach others about what it means to be Native
American, according to Crystal Roberts, a fourth-year psychology
and American Indian studies student and director of the Pow
Wow.

“We don’t want the public thinking that Indians
either no longer exist or that they are alcoholics with casinos
that ride around on horseback with feathers on,” she said.
“What we want to do is to show people what we were, as in our
traditional attire, dances, music, beat, soul and spirit; and what
we are now.”

The festivities began after blessings from a native spiritual
leader and his two apprentices. The apprentices made ritual
offerings of tobacco and water while their master cleansed the area
with the smoke from a burning bundle of white sage.

Visitors and participants alike stood in reverence as a group of
men began playing a large drum and melodically chanting to honor
deceased loved ones.

  Muscogee tribe member Heidi Starwalker
dances in a Pow Wow event on Saturday. Soon, several male dancers
carrying rattles joined them in the Gourd Dance, a traditional
dance from Oklahoma.

“Each dance and each costume tells a story,” said
Jimmy Gardner, a participant in the Pow Wow, as he helped his
friend Jacob Spotted Red Tail prepare for a dance.

Spotted Red Tail shyly looked on as visitors admired his large
feather bustle and the intricate beadwork on his shirt, most of
which was sewn by hand.

“His is a Navajo design,” Gardner said of Spotted
Red Tail’s outfit. “There’s a lot of stuff
represented on it ““ the mesas of the native land, bald eagle
feathers, and porcupine hair.”

According to many Native Americans, costumes are used to express
their unique and often diverse backgrounds. While some like Spotted
Red Tail stick to traditional designs, others incorporate modern
elements into their regalia as a form of self-expression.

Following the popularity of Japanese animation, one such boy
wore a headdress adorned with a small Pokémon character while
others worked rhinestones and even CDs into their costumes.

  Vendors at the Pow Wow sold a variety of items, including
these dreamcatchers.

By late afternoon, Spotted Red Tail and others gathered in the
circular performance area and began to dance. There was no
choreography ““ each group performed their own steps, yet they
were united in the circle by a common heritage and a shared
culture.

According to Roberts, this unity is important in preserving the
Native American culture. The name of the festival, “A New
Circle of Voices,” tries to emphasize unity and a new
generation of Native Americans, she said.

“This year we especially wanted to pay attention to the
youth,” Roberts said. “They’re the new circle of
voices for our people and not just at UCLA, but
everywhere.”

This circle of voices is what draws many, like Harrison Notah, a
member of the Navajo tribe, to the festival. Although Notah enjoyed
the celebration, he seemed critical of some exclusive aspects of
this culture.

“I came to watch the dancers,” Notah said. “I
love the young voices, too. But I wonder why there aren’t
more women singing. This is the year 2001 ““ you’d think
that they would be encouraged to do it more than they are
now.”

The celebration continued despite the merciless sun, and by noon
many dancers were sweating under the weight of their elaborate
costumes. Wary emergency medical technicians stood by, lest the
excitement and heat became too intense.

According to Roberts and other AISA members, the Pow Wow is only
one of many activities held by AISA to promote awareness of the
Native American lifestyle.

Formed in 1969 by members of the American Indian Movement, AISA
is a student run organization that focuses on community issues such
as tribal sovereignty, repatriation of artifacts and remains, and
most recently, the right to equal education.

The annual AISA pow wows began shortly after the group’s
formation and continue to be the largest student-run event on
campus, AISA volunteers said.

“I’ve known about AISA since I was in high
school,” said Nóra Pulscamp, a first-year psychobiology
student and member of the Navajo tribe. “Since I joined AISA,
I’ve learned a lot about their other programs and how they
help people.”

These programs include American Indian Recruitment, an outreach
program that encourages Native Americans in high schools to attend
UCLA, Retention of American Indians Now, a program dedicated to
keeping Native Americans enrolled, and a special retreat for AISA
members, she said.

Much has changed since AISA’s foundation in the
’60s. AISA, however, continues to fight for the rights of
Native American students.

The organization recently helped organize and also participated
in the March 14 rally advocating the repeal of SP-1 and SP-2, the
1995 policies that ended the consideration of race and gender in UC
admissions and hiring.

Although this is Pulscamp’s first time volunteering for
AISA, it is not her first pow wow. For most of her life, she has
participated in many pow wows as a way of preserving her culture
and getting involved in her community.

Roberts shared similar experiences. Growing up on the Rosebud
Indian Reservation, the poorest and arguably one of the most
controversial reservations in the nation, she often took part in
local pow wows as a dancer.

These experiences, and the knowledge she gained from her minor
in American Indian studies, helped her to understand the true
meaning and significance of the pow wow, she said.

According to Roberts, pow wow was originally a word for healer
in a North Eastern Native American language. When Europeans
arrived, they too began calling their doctors pow wows.

When some individuals, claiming to be doctors, began pedaling
miracle medicines and using Native American dancing to draw crowds,
the word was later applied to the elaborate performances that
accompanied the so-called doctors.

“Now, however, pow wows are large cultural
gatherings,” Roberts said. “It’s also important
to remember that each individual tribe has its own dances and
gatherings that can be considered pow wows today.”