Contents 1 Introduction Chapter One Origins of Powwow Culture 10 Colonization 11 The Indian Act and the Pass System 15 The Wild West Shows 18 Fall Fairs 21 A Growing Powwow Culture 21 Banned No Longer 22 Twelve Months a Year 25 My Father's Story Chapter Two What Is Powwow Culture 30 The Powwow Grounds 31 The Emcee 32 The Grand Entry 34 Competition 36 The Giveaway 37 Stories 38 Restoring Kinship Chapter Three Powwow Songs and Dances 42 Drums 43 The Drum 44 Dance Categories and Styles 45 Men’s Traditional Dance 47 Men’s Fancy Dance 48 Men’s Grass Dance 49 Women’s Traditional Dance 50 Women’s Fancy Shawl Dance 52 Women’s Jingle Dress Dance 54 Intertribal and Social Dances 56 My Drum Story
Chapter Four Powwows from Coast to Coast 60 Central Canada 62 The Canadian Prairies 65 The American Northern Plains 66 The Pacific Northwest 67 The Southwest 69 The East 70 The Midwest 70 Attending a Powwow 72 A Final Word from the Author 74 Glossary 76 Resources 78 Index 81 Acknowledgments Women’s beaded top designed and created by Northern Traditional dancer Kristol Abel Anishinaabe Ontario Linda Roy
My grandson Olin Osawamick Anishinaabe Nehiyaw is a Grass dancer who’s been dancing since he could walk Brad Callihoo
Introduction My home on the Wiikwemkoong reserve sits in a field of wild strawberries Strawberries are very important to me Meryca Shawongonabe When I was a little girl my family spent the summer holidays at my grandparents home in northern Ontario They lived on a farm in Wiikwemkoong a First Nation on Manitoulin Island far from the city where we lived The farm was on a reserve and my cousins aunties and uncles lived there too Both of my parents had been sent to an Indian residential school so they knew the hardships and trauma caused by it They thought we would get a better education if we left the reserve so we could go to public school We were the first generation to live away from our home reserve My cousins on the reserve had to chop wood for the woodstove to keep their home warm and haul pails of water in order to bathe In our home in Toronto Ontario besides being able to flip a switch to get heat or turn a tap 1
