With less than a month left until the 42nd annual powwow, the 11 students on this year’s planning committee are wrapping up preparations for the program, which celebrates various Native American cultures through food, song, dance and drum. Based on previous attendance, around 1,500 people are expected to participate, making it the one of the largest student-run powwows in the Northeast.
At the close of this year’s event, the Native American Program and the Hood Museum of Art will unveil five sculptures by Allan Houser, a prominent Apache Indian artist and former College artist-in-residence, in front of the Black Family Visual Arts Center.
The event, said powwow committee co-presidents Zach Cooper ’17 and Emily Harwell ’16, takes nearly a year to plan, costing around $35,000. The powwow committee, which this year includes nine freshmen, organizes every aspect of the event, booking locations, inviting dance groups, judging competitions and selecting the head staff.
Comprising the arena director, head man dancer and head woman dancer, the head staff traditionally host the powwow. Selection, Harwell said, is an honor that recognizes skills or performance.
“They can make or break the powwow,” Harwell said.
This year’s budget comes from the President’s Office, the Special Program and Events Committee and NAP, the committee co-presidents said.
The powwow, Harwell said, celebrates the diversity of Native American cultures on campus. Native American students at Dartmouth represent a range of different tribes, including the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole, Navajo and Hopi tribes, each of which bring different traditions to the ceremony.
“It’s not just one tribe we’re celebrating, but all of them,” Harwell said. “All of our ancestors and cultural traditions.”
Dances vary by tribe, said Jackie Eagle ’15, noting that those being performed at the powwow will include the grass dance, the jingle, the prairie chicken dance, the potato dance and straight dances.
NAP director Kapi’olani Laronal said that the powwow brings together various groups, including alumni and those outside of the College.
Mariah Cooper ’16, who originally heard about Dartmouth’s powwow as a child in Wisconsin, said she is looking forward to the event.
Committee member Kayla Atcitty ’17 said the powwow is a great opportunity for people to learn about Native American culture. Noting insensitive appropriations of Native American culture, such as the Washington Redskins mascot and people wearing headdresses at the Coachella Music Festival, the event could help teach those unfamiliar with Native American culture about its beauty, she said via text message.
In 1971, former College President John Kemeny reaffirmed Dartmouth’s commitment to Native American education by founding the NAP, and the first powwow was held in 1973.
