A Native American Showcase

July 29, 2016

The Annual Odawa Homecoming Pow Wow, an extensive all-day event that runs annually every summer in Harbor Springs, doesn’t only bring together the Odawa people to honor their own. It welcomes people from other Indian nations, as well as the Odawa’s non-Native American neighbors, to watch, participate, and learn more about Odawa heritage and traditions.

PROTECTING OUR WATERS

Each year’s Pow Wow has a theme, and this year’s is Nbi Naagadendiming, or Protecting Our Waters. It’s an appropriate theme, as Native Americans have long relied on Michigan’s waterways for a range of uses, from fishing, aquaculture, and sustenance of wild rice crops to navigation and cultural/ ceremonial practices.

“The Little Traverse Bay Band Environmental Services Program will have an informational booth educating people on the importance of water in our culture, why it’s important to protect and preserve our water, and what the program does to do so,” said Annette VanDeCar, chair of the Odawa Homecoming Pow Wow.

SYMBOLIC SHAWL

The water presentations will add one more colorful component to the festival, which is already rich with Native beaded and embroidered regalia (the formal term for the dancers’ clothing), Indian foods, music, drumbeats, and shared stories and lore.

A special event at this year’s Pow Wow will be the Fancy Shawl Special, a Native American dance. The regalia for the dance consists of a colorful shawl worn around the shoulders and a cloth dress with bright, intricate beadwork.

“It’s a fairly modern dance, originating in the North in the early 1950s and ’60s as a tourist and competition dance,” VanDeCar explained. “It filtered down to the south and became more popular in the ’70s and ’80s.”

“It is also thought to have originated as the butterfly dance. When her mate is killed in battle, the female butterfly mourns and goes into a cocoon, symbolized by the shawl. Her emergence from the cocoon celebrates freedom and a new life.”

COMMUNITY AND CUISINE

Many of the dance styles have been performed by Odawa tribal members for centuries, and some of the music you’ll hear during the Pow Wow is just as old, as the songs are passed from generation to generation.

The drumming is highlight during these events, as are the inter-tribal dances, which VanDeCar encourages all to participate in, whether you’re of Native American heritage or not. “It brings the community together,” she said.

Another highlight of each Pow Wow, and one of VanDeCar’s favorites, is the food, which usually includes such Native American fare as fry bread, Indian tacos, blanket dogs, corn soup, buffalo burgers, and more.

“I’m really looking forward to sampling the food from our seven vendors this year,” she said. “All will be open for business at 11am on both Saturday and Sunday.”

TRIBAL AFFIRMATION

But most of all, the Pow Wow, for which attendance consistently increases each year, is a strong reaffirmation of the tribe’s history in a country that doesn’t always remember to honor the Native American culture.

“I think the Pow Wows allow us to show the non-Native community that we still retain and honor our traditions, even though we live in a contemporary setting,” VanDeCar explained.

“It’s an opportunity to learn about our culture firsthand, and to ask questions of the dancers, drummers, artists, and food vendors. Most are happy to share their knowledge with those interested in learning more about our culture.”

The 25th Annual Odawa Homecoming Pow Wow will take place August 13–14 at the LTBB Pow Wow Grounds in Harbor Springs. (Rain site: Petoskey High School Gym.) For directions and more information, visit facebook.com/OdawaHomecoming- PowWow or odawahomecoming.com, or call 231-242-1427.