The Powwow Circuit

[Headache]

I was asked what the powwow circuit was so I'm answering it here.

What is the pow wow circuit?  
If I may?

Originally powwows were set up on various reservations as a way to make money from the non-reservation folk traveling to/through.  Initially visits to reservations were not very positive encounters for the original dwellers as they were seen more like zoo animals than as human beings.  So, to make lemonade out of lemons and attempt to take care of the people powwows were born.  A powwow is a gathering of dancers and drums sometimes social gatherings and sometimes for money(aka "dancing for dollars").  Many are mostly native, some only allow enrolled members(usually competitive dancing) and some it's hard to find any Indians.

Some claim being "traditional" and while there are traditional elements the powwows themselves are not.  They have taken elements of the old annual tribal gatherings(before being rounded up in concentration camps by the US cavalries) and reinvented them for social and tourist purposes.  Over the decades they have evolved to not only become quite profitable in some cases but they have also replaced the old gatherings. In these cases they are usually "closed" powwows in that non-natives cannot attend. Although powwows originated from desperation please don't think of them as similar to other types of gatherings. In many cases cultural powwows are helping our ways to survive which differentiates us from reenacting.

Being on the powwow circuit means one travels around the country to participate in the powwow culture.  Some are professional powwow competitors and make their living doing it.  Some are vendors that travel the circuit to sell their wares.  Others such as myself did it for social and community ties although there isn't a whole lot left of my communities having descended from New England area Nations that were the first to be wiped out for the most part.  I sang on a few drums both northern and southern style as well as danced.

Here is a little more information about them:

http://www.powwows.com/what-is-a-pow-wow/

 

[bLEEp]

Thank you.
I have about 10% give or take, northern WI, MN, MI native in my blood.
I would like to check this out.
Be well

 

[Headache]

I'm actually going to be making my rig into a genealogical research station. My first ventures in it after this winter, buying my property for a home base and moving are to trace parts of my genealogy I haven't looked into yet and I'm going to post videos about it. If I enjoy it enough I might consider doing it for others but it's a tough gig. Some people don't pay you for looking stuff up for them even though they asked you to do it in the first place.

 

[cyndi]

Originally powwows were set up on various reservations as a way to make money from the non-reservation folk traveling to/through. 

This answer maybe true of some nations, but not all. It's far too general.  In the Northeast Woodlands and along the  east coast the native people where almost totally wiped out by first contact. Many went into hiding, either by assimilating or moving further into the back country. Gatherings were held, secretly, for ceremonial purposes and to reconnect with family.

In 1849 federal law made the gathering of Native people and their ceremonies illegal. We continued to hide our spirituality and traditions by gathering secretly

 It wasn't until 1978 when the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed That we were able to gather publically and practice our traditions. The Powwow (actually a derivitive or a Naragansett word) became a way to share those traditions with other tribes and more recently the public. 

Powow circuits vary from region to region and are mostly dependent on weather. In the south, south east and southwest the circuits tend to run in the fall, winter and spring, when the weather is mild.

In the north, northeast and northwest powwow season runs through the spring, summer and fall.

Although there are many indoor powwows, now, too

Here's the powwow schedule for the New England states 
https://wanderingbull.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/PowwowSchedule.pdf


And a state by state powwow schedule 
http://www.sixdirectionstraders.com/calendar.html