Courtesy of the Native American Student Union
The 1998 Spring Pow Wow (above) held at McArthur Court celebrated Native American culture and brought it to the students.
Pow wow to re-introduce
campus to native culture
■The 32nd annual Spring
Pow Wow will feature Native
American dances, music and
traditions this weekend
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Dance performances and drum
beats will highlight the 32nd annu
al Spring Pow Wow, a celebration
combining the fun and spiritual as
pects of Native American culture.
The Native American Student
Union is hosting the event, which
begins Saturday and Sunday at 1
p.m. at McArthur Court. Approxi
mately 2,000 people will partake
in the two-day celebration, and
the most intense competition
dancing will take place Saturday
evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“The Pow Wow... [brings] com
munity together from all over the
state of Oregon and even outside
the state,” said NASU external di
rector Rachelle Pavao, a senior so
ciology major with ancestry in the
Tlingit and Hawaiian tribes.
In the grand entry, a procession
to bless the arena will include
veterans, royalty (youth selected
to represent tribes) and dancers
carrying in the American flag, the
Oregon state flag, a Prisoner of
War/Missing in Action flag and
the eagle staff, which is a symbol
of Native American heritage.
Dancers of all ages will com
pete in an assortment of dances,
donning the appropriate regalia
for different songs.
Some dances are specified for
women only, such as the owl and
jingle dress dances. In choice
dances, women choose their part
ners, and the men cannot refuse.
Dancing can be a form of
prayer, a way of expressing joy or
grief and a method of becoming
closer with nature, according to
the Native American Dance Per
formance Web site. Native Ameri
can dance is centered around the
drum, which is the key to Native
American footwork.
During the dancing, there are fa
cilitators in the arena who keep the
dancing moving such as this year’s
whip man, Craig Whitehead, a vol
unteer from the community.
NASU co-director Melyssa Swartz,
a junior political science major
from the northern Cheyenne tribe,
explained that one of the whip
man’s main responsibilities is to
pick up sacred eagle feathers if
they fall to the ground. Native
Americans believe that if a feather
does fall to the ground, something
bad will happen.
Pavao said that for newcomers
who have never attended a cus
tomary Pow Wow, the experience
takes them out of their comfort
zone and into an unfamiliar expe
rience. Tana 'Atchley, a senior
journalism major from the Modoc
and Yahooskin tribes, said the
best way for people to learn is to
observe and participate.
“One misconception is that a
lot of people think the music all
sounds the same,” Pavao said.
“However there are words to the
songs, and the songs are different
depending on the type of dance.”
While dancing is the main at
traction, other Native American
customs will be honored. Fried
bread Indian tacos will be sold by
Native American vendors along
with artwork, bead work, leather
work, flutes and woven chairs.
First place dancers will be award
ed traditional wool trade blankets,
known as Pendleton blankets.
Linda Trefren, a freshman bio
chemistry major from the Aleut
tribe, said she hopes the Pow
Wow will be an opportunity for
students to understand that a Na
tive American population does
exist on campus.
There are approximately 136
Native American students on
campus, according to NASU,
which is less than 1 percent of the
overall student population.
“I want people to know we are
here,” Trefren said.
Trefren added that the Pow
Wow is an opportunity for other
Native Americans to know a na
tive community and support sys
tem exists.
Swartz said the first Pow Wows
originated in the Ponca tribes on
the southern U.S. plains more
than 300 years ago. She said it was
originally a summer gathering for
different clans to celebrate. How
ever, now Pow Wows take place
year-round and most Native
American communities have Pow
Wows. Swartz said it is a practice
that begins in elementary school.
The University of Washington,
Portland State University and
Stanford University will all be
sponsoring Pow Wow celebra
tions this weekend as well, and
Oregon State University’s Pow
Wow takes place next weekend.
All mothers present Sunday at
Oregon’s Pow Wow will be hon
ored with flowers out of respect
for Mother’s Day.
“We’d like to see people from
campus take on the challenge and
come to the Pow Wow,” Pavao
said. “It’s something you can’t
learn in a classroom.”
Oregon nursing home sued again
McMinnville — a second
family has filed a lawsuit against a
nursing home where four patients
died after being given morphine.
Alecia Avery Juber of Medford is
suing the Sheridan Care Center, the
center’s administrator and owner
Linda Hill Johnston, nurse Michael
J. Coons, Legacy Visiting Nurse As
sociation Inc. and several unnamed
nurses and nurse assistants, the
News-Register reported Thursday.
Juber’s father, John Avery, died
at the center in January 1998.
Juber’s complaints about his
death eventually led to a state in
vestigation that uncovered three
other deaths that occurred around
the same time.
In each of the cases, Coons gave
the patient morphine.
State investigators determined
the center failed to provide basic
care for the center’s residents and
that the patients died after receiv
ing excessive doses of morphine.
The state fined the center
$6,000, and the Yamhill County
District Attorney and state Attor
ney General’s offices subsequently
launched a criminal investigation.
Coons has claimed that he was
only following instructions and did
nothing wrong. Nursing home offi
cials maintain that the four patients
did not die of morphine overdoses.
A separate investigation result
ed last month in the federal gov
ernment threatening to pull
Medicare funding from Legacy
Visiting Nurse Association Hos
pice — which was helping care
for Avery before his death.
The Associated Press
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The Native American Student Union
Univeristy of Oregon
32nd Annual
SPRING POW WOW
Honoring Mothers
May 13 and 14, 2000
WhipMan
Craig
Whitehead
Honor Drum
Soaring Hawk
Head Man
Robby Merrill
MC
Bob Tom
Host Drum
Bear Guts
Head Woman
Shyloh West
Grand Entry at MacArthur Court
Saturday 1 pm and 7 pm
Sunday 1 pm
Prizes Awarded
All drummer and dancers welcome
Not repsonsible for lost items, husbands or wives!
An Alcohol and Drug free event.
(541)346-3723 unwiuftstoSitoe«.wc»g—.«4»
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