LIFESTYLES
WEEKEND, JULY 8-9, 2017
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A toddler checks out a dancer’s regalia during the
Grand Entry at the Wildhorse Pow Wow.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Nacho Martinez, of Arizona, waits his turn to compete
at the Wildhorse Pow Wow.
Rhythm of drum provides heartbeat
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A young competitor participates in the six-and-younger
category at the 23rd Annual Wildhorse Pow Wow at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A tiny dancer participates last weekend in the six-and-
younger category of the 23rd Annual Wildhorse Pow
Wow at Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A drum group called Young Spirit performs last
weekend at the Wildhorse Pow Wow.
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Powwow.
The word evokes a
sensory
smorgasbord.
Swirling dancers adorned
with feathers, beads, bustles,
ribbons, porcupine quills,
shells, fringe, metal cones
and buckskin. A cacophony
of colors ranging from
bright traditional tones to
modern fluorescents. Smells
of sweetgrass, sage and fry
bread. The rhythmic beat of
the drum.
The drumbeat, according
to anyone who knows
powwow, is the heartbeat.
Without it, the dancers
couldn’t dance. The effort
would be as futile as cars
without engines or knives
without blades.
More than 300 dancers
and dozens of drummers
worked together during the
three days of last weekend’s
Wildhorse Pow Wow on the
back lawn of the Wildhorse
Resort & Casino. Compet-
itors represented multiple
tribes and traditions, but all
embraced the power of the
powwow.
The roots go back many
generations. Dances are
infused with traditional
stories and symbols of their
ancient roots.
The men’s grass dance
was once performed by
warriors returning from a
hunt. Acting out the stories
of their exploits, the dancers
use fluid movement to keep
feathers and ribbons waving
like grass in the wind.
In the shawl dance,
women use elegant shawls to
simulate butterfly wings. The
footwork is light and fast.
Squint a little and a talented
dancer may look like she is
floating.
Participants in the men’s
fancy dance are flamboyant
in their flashy regalia such
as porcupine roaches, feather
bustles, angora anklets,
sheep bells and feathers on
spinners.
Jingle dancers wear
dresses adorned with dozens
of metal cones, which bump
together in time with the
drum.
Categories include dances
for children, men, women
and even couples (the sweet-
heart dance).
The traditions of powwow
run deep inside jingle dancer
Simone
Lefthand.
On
Sunday, the Stoney Nakoda
Sioux woman stood in the
shade, her dancing done,
her jingle dress draped
over a nearby lawn chair.
The 29-year-old said she
attended her first powwow
as a babe in arms and now
travels from one to another
during the summer season.
The week prior to Wildhorse,
she danced at the Muckle-
shoot Powwow in Auburn,
Washington. This weekend,
she competes in Browning,
Montana.
The jingle dance is a
healing dance, Lefthand said
– it’s meant to heal those who
are sick. During competition,
she feels lightness, tinged
with purpose and emotion.
“I feel relaxed, but also
a little emotional,” said the
Yakima resident. “I dance for
people who can’t dance.”
To Lefthand, powwow
means family and friends.
Her three daughters dance,
too. She grew up in Alberta,
Canada, where her father
participated in powwows as
a singer.
“I grew up around the
drum,” she said.
Sitting near Lefthand
in a lawn chair was her
boyfriend, Leslie Nicholas
II, 27, a drummer from the
Passamaquoddy tribe in
Maine. He said the drumbeat
is powerful and uplifting, the
driver of the entire powwow.
He said each drum group
has an individual style and
singers who blend their
voices into one.
“You must harmonize,”
the drummer said. “You don’t
try and outblast each other.”
Competition
between
drum groups gets fierce, but
it never gets personal.
“There’s competitive-
ness,” Nicholas said, “but
after that’s done, people go
back to being friends.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A dancer holds her feather fan high during competition
at the Wildhorse Pow Wow.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A couple participates in the sweetheart dance at the
Wildhorse Pow Wow.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A competitor participates in the grand entry of the
23rd Annual Wildhorse Pow Wow.
A couple participates in the sweetheart dance at the
Wildhorse Pow Wow.
A dancer competes at the Wildhorse Pow Wow at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino.