DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 373 949 RC 019 763

AUTHOR Red Hawk, RichardTITLE A Trip To a Pow Wow.REPORT NO ISBN-0-940113-14-7PUB DATE 88NOTE 51p.; Illustrated by Anne. C. Brook. Some

illustrations may not reproduce well.AVAILABLE FROM Sierra Oaks Publishing Co., 1370 Sierra Oaks Court,

Newcastle, CA 95658-9791.PUB TYPE Books (010)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *American Indian Culture; American Indian History;

American Indians; Books; Childrens Literature;Clothing; *Cultural Activities; Cultural Awareness;*Dance; Elementary Education; Tribes

IDENTIFIERS Ceremonies; *Powwows

ABSTRACTThis illustrated children's hook describes the

American Indian powwow, an important element of- contemporary NativeAmerican life in the United States and Canada. The main character ofthe book, Tess, is a Native American. She explains to her classmatesat school about the origin and meaning of the powwow and also aboutthe wars between the Indians and the White men. During the wars thesoldiers forced the Indians to move off their lands ontoreservations. Tess explains that Indians have powwows to celebratebeing Indians. She also shows her classmates the traditional dressfor powwows including a beaded headband, beaded moccasins, and abeautiful shawl. After teaching her classmates how to perform thetraditional ndian round dance, Tess invites them on a field trip toa powwow. Tess' classmates dance the round dance with the Indiandancers. The children have fun and. Tess is happy and proud that shehas shared a special part of her Indian heritage with her classmates.(LP)

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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made*

* from the original document. *

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A TRIP TO A POW WOW"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

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By Richard Red Hawk

Illustrations 6y Anne C. BrookARI F ?

A TRIP TO A POW WOW

By Venarel Wfd. Hawk

Illustrations by Anne C. Brook.

Sierra Oaks Publishing Company1988

Oth

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For Tess Nashone, Hayley liachine, and Tara TsaileThree girls who love the Pow Wow

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Show and Tell

Tes

s w

oke

up w

ith a

big

sm

ile o

n he

r fa

ce. S

he w

as h

appy

. It

was

Fri

day.

She

cou

ld h

ardl

y w

ait t

o go

to s

choo

l.

28

93

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One by one each student stood in front of the class. The boys

and girls shared their hobbies with each other. Tom showed his

boats. Emma showed her puppets. Sally played her flute.

1 0

60'

Tess knew that soon it would be her turn for show and tell.

She was very excited.

"Now we will hear from Tess," Ms. Sherrill said.

6 12

Tess walked to the front of the room with a large brown bag

in her arms. Facing the class, she reached into the bag.

148

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"I want to play some American Indian music," Tess said as

she pulled a tape recorder out of her bag. "It is the music played at

Indian Pow Wows today."

Tess turned on the tape recorder. Music began to drift

through the room. Most of the students had never heard

American Indian music before. The high-pitched singing and the

steady beat of the drum were different from the music they sang.

But soon the children were nodding their heads. They tapped their

feet to the rhythm.

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"Ind

ians

on

the

Gre

at P

lain

s st

arte

d th

e Po

w W

ow,"

Tes

s

expl

aine

d. "

The

y w

ould

gat

her

toge

ther

to d

ance

and

sin

g. S

ome

of th

e In

dian

trib

es th

at u

sed

to P

ow W

ow w

ere

the

Kio

was

, the

Che

yenn

es, t

he C

oman

ches

, the

Pon

cas,

and

the

Siou

x."

Tes

s to

ld th

e ch

ildre

n ab

out t

he w

ars

betw

een

the

Am

eric

an

Indi

ans

and

the

whi

te m

en. D

urin

g th

e w

ars

the

sold

iers

for

ced

the

Indi

ans

to m

ove

off

of th

eir

land

s. T

he I

ndia

ns h

ad to

mov

e

onto

cer

tain

land

s ca

lled

rese

rvat

ions

. 1812

1913

Tess reached into her brown bag again. This time she pulled

out a headband made out of tiny red, white, and blue beads. She

placed it on her head. Tess also removed two beaded moccasins

from the bag. She put them on her feet.

"At the Pow Wow, we dress like Indians did in the old days.

When girls and women dance, we always wear shawls over our

shoulders."

Now Tess pulled a beautiful blue shawl from her bag. It had

an Indian design on it, painted in white. Long, silky fringes

dangled from the edge of the shawl.

"Today Indians from all over the United States and Canada

have Pow Wows," Tess said. "We celebrate because we are happy

to be Indians."

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The

sha

wl w

as w

rapp

ed f

irm

ly a

roun

d T

ess'

sho

ulde

rs a

s

she

stoo

d in

fro

nt o

f th

e te

ache

r's d

esk.

She

ask

ed th

e st

uden

ts to

stan

d up

and

to m

ove

thei

r de

sks

agai

nst t

he w

alls

.

"I w

ill te

ach

you

how

to d

ance

the

Rou

nd D

ance

," T

ess

said

.

"Ple

ase

stan

d in

a b

ig c

ircl

e in

the

mid

dle

of th

e fl

oor.

"

Ms.

She

rrill

and

the

stud

ents

mad

e a

big

circ

le. E

very

one

was

exc

ited

abou

t lea

rnin

g an

Ind

ian

danc

e.

"Now

take

a s

mal

l ste

p to

the

left

with

you

r le

ft f

oot,"

Tes

s

expl

aine

d. "

Nex

t tak

e a

smal

l ste

p w

ith y

our

righ

t foo

t and

pla

ce it

clos

e to

you

r le

ft f

oot."

In a

ver

y sh

ort t

ime

the

child

ren

had

lear

ned

the

step

s to

the

Rou

nd D

ance

. Tes

s tu

rned

the

mus

ic o

n th

e ta

pe r

ecor

der

agai

n.

The

chi

ldre

n an

d th

eir

teac

her

danc

ed a

roun

d th

e fl

oor.

It w

as

fun!

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When the dance ended, Tess told the children the big news.

"Saturday night is our Pow Wow. You are all invited!" Ms.

Sherrill looked surprised but happy.

"Students," Ms. Sherrill said, "Tess has invited you to attend a

Pow Wow. I hope you will all be able to go with your mothers and

fathers."

24

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Ms. Sherrill asked Tess if she had anything else to say.

"I hope you and your families will come to the Pow Wow,"

Tess said. "Now you know the Round Dance. You can join in thedancing. If you come to the Pow Wow, you can have fun theAmerican Indian way!"

2620

222

At the Pow Wow

28

Tes

s le

d he

r cl

ass

into

the

Sant

ana

Scho

olgy

m. "

Pow

Wow

s

are

held

eve

ryw

here

in th

e U

nite

d St

ates

," s

he s

aid.

"W

eev

enha

ve P

ow W

ows

here

in C

alif

orni

a." 28

24

The students and their teacher sat down.. Together they

watched the Grand Entry. The dancers walked into the gym. The

men and women wore beautiful costumes. So did the boys and

girls. They all wore colorful feathers, beads, and cloth.

A man and a woman led the Indians. Tess explained that

they were the head woman dancer and the head man dancer.

They were followed by the head girl and head boy dancers. All of

the dancers stood silently near the center of the dance floor.

31

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A la

rge

roun

d dr

um s

at in

the

cent

er o

f th

e da

nce

floo

r.

Aro

und

the

drum

sat

sev

eral

men

.

"The

y w

ill s

ing

a Fl

ag S

ong,

" T

ess

anno

unce

d. "

We

are

very

patr

iotic

peo

ple.

The

Fla

g So

ng h

onor

s th

e A

mer

ican

fla

g an

dou

rna

tion.

" A

slo

w, s

tead

y be

at o

f th

e dr

um s

udde

nly

bega

n. E

very

one

stoo

d up

. The

Ind

ian

men

sitt

ing

arou

nd th

e dr

umsa

ng th

e Fl

agSo

ng.

3328

29 34

Next an old white-haired Indian man gave a blessing to the

Creator. He asked for beauty, peace, and good will for everyone at

the Pow Wow. He spoke in his language, the language of the

Luiseiio Indians from southern California. Then he spoke in

English. When he was finished, the dancing began.

35

30

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Indian men and women danced around the drum. Thechildren did not understand the words of the song. The men sangtheir songs in the language of the Sioux Indians.

"Usually the dancers move around the drum in the directionof the sun. This is the same direction that the hands of a clock

move," Tess explained to the children. "In some dances, though,they move in the other direction."

3732

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The girls and women wore beautiful dresses made of yellow,

red, black, or purple cloth. The dresses were trimmed with shells,

beads, or lace. A few women wore buckskin leather dresses with

long, dangling fringes. All of the women wore shawls over their

shoulders. One of the children asked Tess why they wore the

shawls.

"The women wear shawls to show respect," she answered. "It

is an old Indian tradition."

39.

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Tes

s po

inte

d ou

t tha

t som

e of

the

boys

and

men

wer

e dr

esse

dlik

e In

dian

s in

the

old

days

. The

se tr

aditi

onal

clo

thes

wer

ede

cora

ted

with

eag

le, h

awk,

or tu

rkey

fea

ther

s. B

ones

and

she

llsw

ere

also

sew

n in

to th

e cl

othe

s.

"See

som

e of

the

othe

r men

and

boy

s?"

Tes

s as

ked.

"T

hey

are

wea

ring

out

fits

mad

e ou

t of v

ery

colo

rful

fea

ther

s. T

he f

eath

ers

wer

e bo

ught

at I

ndia

n st

ores

and

trad

ing

post

s. T

he o

utfi

tsar

em

ade

by th

e da

ncer

s. O

ften

thei

r fr

iend

s an

dfa

mili

es h

elp.

"

zriL

E

Som

e da

ncer

s m

ake

mod

ern

head

ress

esor

bea

ded

bare

ttes.

The

fea

ther

s w

hich

som

e da

ncer

s pu

t on

thei

r ba

cks

are

also

mad

efr

om m

oder

n m

ater

ials

.

"Rig

ht n

ow th

e da

ncer

s ar

e do

ing

a ho

rse-

stea

ling

danc

e,"

Tes

s sa

id a

s th

e da

ncer

s w

hirl

ed a

roun

d th

e fl

oor.

The

dru

mm

ers

sang

a w

ar s

ong.

The

dan

cers

' fee

t bou

nced

hig

h of

f of

the

floo

r.

The

chi

ldre

n st

ared

at t

he d

ance

rs. T

hey

wer

e am

azed

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Finally the Master of Ceremonies announced a Round

Dance. All of the students had been waiting for this dance. Tess

had taught them this dance in their classroom. Tess now led the

class onto the dance floor to join the circle.

45.

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The

boy

s an

d gi

rls

danc

ed w

ith th

e In

dian

dan

cers

. Tog

ethe

r

they

dan

ced

arou

nd a

nd a

roun

d in

the

dire

ctio

n of

the

sun.

The

girl

s w

ore

the

shaw

ls w

hich

Tes

s ha

d to

ld th

em to

bri

ng. S

mili

ng,

the

child

ren

trav

eled

aro

und

the

pain

ted

drum

and

the

Indi

an

sing

ers.

42

41

7 I

When the dance ended, Tess led the class back to the seats.

"That was very nice!" Ms. Sherrill said. "I am so glad thatTess invited us to the Pow Wow."

Tess was happy and proud. She had shared a special part ofher Indian heritage. She knew that the students would always

remember that night. They would remember the fun and

friendship. They would remember the Round Dance. Most of all,

they would remember the Pow Wow.

49

44

\*t

The American Indian Pow Wow is an important element ofcontemporary Native American life in the United States and Canada.From California to New York and from Vancouver to Toronto, AmericanIndians join in a celebration of singing, dancing, and drumming. In thisbook, meet Tess as she explains'to her class the origin and meaning of thePow Wow. After teaching her classmates how to Round Dance, Tess takesthem on a field trip to a Pow Wow. This is a charming story for anyoneinterested in American Indians today. It is written by a Native Americanabout Native Americans, and it provides an accurate portrayal of asignificant aspect of contemporary Indian culture.

Richard /4d Sawkitas written extensively on Native American history, culture, andreligion. He has written several children's books, including Grandmother'sChristmas Story, A, B, C's: The American Indian Way, andGrandfather'sStory of Navajo Monsters, also published by Sierra Oaks.

Anne C. Brookis a professional artist with a fife-Gong interest in American Indianhistory, art, and culture. She is a superb graphics artist for the Media TechnologyServices at San Diego State University.

ISBN: 0-940113-14-7

SIERRA OYLICS PUBLISHING COMPANY1988