Fancy Dance and Fry Bread
The East Coast pow-wow season gets kicked off at Dartmouth these days, and Dartmouth's seventh annual pow-wow brought Native American dancers from all over New England and as far away as Arizona and South Dakota. The pow-wow, sponsored by Native Americans at Dartmouth, was the dance competition and social celebration that concluded the College's week-long Native American Arts Festival.
Some 300 people (including 19 "homecoming" Native American alumni) gathered in a circle on the grass at Storrs Pond on May 12 to watch the dancers and browse the handicrafts on display. They also consumed a great quantity of honeycovered Navajo fry bread, according to report.
Contestants — Native American women, children, and men — danced to the drums and songs of the Thunderbird Singing Group of New Jersey and New York. A total of $1,200 in prize money went to the most skilled among them. Two dance forms were available to the contestants — Fancy Dance and Shawl Dance. Both are particularly suitable for pan-tribal gatherings, because they rely heavily on improvisation. Dancers must know a large number of traditional dancing songs in order to begin and end their dancing precisely with the drums — a foot in mid-step at the sound of the final drumbeat counts against a dancer, as does any failure to follow the beat of the drum exactly or the losing of an insecurely fastened decoration. Contestants wore traditional costumes of their own making, many of them elaborate with feathers, beads, furs, and bells.
Some 30 different tribes were represented among the contestants, six of whom were Dartmouth students. The four first-place winners came from New Mexico (Taos Pueblo), New York (Maya), Connecticut (Mohawk), and Massachusetts (Mohegan-Navajo). Dartmouth's own Debra Perrault '82, a Mohawk, was among the second-place winners.
This year's pow-wow was marked by a special presentation. President and Mrs. Kemeny and Trustee Robert Kilmarx were formally given thanks for "their vision, their faith, and their patient hard work and support" in behalf of the Native American Program at Dartmouth, and each was presented with a rare and intricately crafted Chippewa quill-and-birchbark box. The departure of Native American Program's administrative associate, Dave Bonga '74, who is headed for law school, was also acknowledged, with thanks and the presentation of a hand-made silver buckle.
The afternoon of celebration and good feeling culminated with a high-spirited "round dance," which everyone present was encouraged to join, and a "big feed" of roast beef, cornbread, salad, and cake — courtesy of Native Americans at Dartmouth.
A competitor in this year's Native Americancan pow-wow observed by a rapt spectator.
