Powwow attracts from across US

A group of men sat around a drum, eyes closed, chanting to a rhythm. They sang carefully in time to the beat of the drum, but they knew the songs by heart. The songs had been passed down through generations, as had the dances performed around the drummers.

In a swirl of color and regalia, the Second Annual Traditional Powwow took place Saturday and Sunday in Union Street Center.

There were tables for vendors and a room where Native Americans celebrated their heritage in song and dance.

The powwow, put on by the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, the Native American Graduate Student Association and the American Indian Association, with help from the IU Student Association, drew people from across the country.

Vendor Morning Lark Baskett sold traditional clothing at her table.

“I live close and got involved with the Indian Center here,” she said. “We come up for craft night. Today, I expect to sell some stuff and see some friends from out of town. I have friends coming from quite a distance.”

The gathering began with a traditional gourd dance led by IU anthropology professor Brian Gilley.

During the dance, there was a dedication to Virginia Jessie Osborne, who was being honored as an elder.

“My mom just recently came to be here with me in Indiana,” said LaDonna Jessie Blue Eye, Osborne’s daughter and a doctoral student at IU. “Three years ago the doctor told her that she had bone, liver and breast cancer and that she only had six to eight weeks. And today, the young Native American students wanted to honor her with a shawl that has pink ribbons on it.”

After the gourd dance, a community lunch was served to all attending as the dancers prepared for intertribal dancing.

The grand entrance of traditional dancing came next. Men and women entered the room in full traditional clothing, dancing to the drumming groups that had traveled far to take part in the ceremony.

The dancing went on for hours, led by Gilbert Brown of Iowa and Cheryl McClellan of Oklahoma.

It was a chance for the different nations to show their dances.

“Every nation has a different style of dance,” emcee Terry Fiddler said as visiting Sac & Fox Nation Princess Lyndee McClellan demonstrated a dance from her nation.

Also during the dancing, Beverly Calender-Anderson, director of Bloomington’s Safe and Civil City Program, brought a proclamation.

She announced November is now Native American Indian Heritage month in Bloomington.

“It’s congratulating IU on pulling together the powwow,” she said. “It celebrates the richness of culture and diversity the powwow adds.”