At the prison, there is an in-house TV channel on which educational programs and documentaries may be shown. Hollywood type movies may not be shown. There must be permission from the copyright holder before anything can be shown and the DVD must first be viewed and approved by the cultural activities coordinator. The DVD player is kept in the cell of one inmate along with the DVD’s for him to show.
That inmate is always begging for something new to show so I decided to attend powwows in the area to film part of them for the prison channel. I even bought a tripod for my camcorder since I was having trouble standing still while filming.
The first powwow I filmed was the Pine Ridge powwow in August. The temperature was in the high 90’s and it was miserable outside. Bowers are built around the powwow area with tree branches or wood on top to provide some shade for the spectators. There are also bleachers available. Some people bring their own chairs, which is what I did since I wanted to be in the front row with an unobstructed view of the dance grounds in the center of the powwow grounds.
I set up my camera to film the grand entrance, which is somewhat like a parade starting with someone carrying an eagle staff followed by a military group carrying flags, followed by dignitaries and then the dancers. I didn’t quite have my camcorder set up at the correct height so my film started with flags followed by the chest of a female national political dignitary. Her face wasn’t shown since I had the camcorder too low. My supervisor in the chapel roared with laughter when she saw the beginning of my film and then told me that first portion needed to be edited out before it could be shown on the prison channel.
Despite the not so smooth transitions I made while filming, the inmates liked to watch the powwow films I did because they could look for their relatives among the dancers and also see what the latest fashion was in powwow regalia. Of course, some complained they had motion sickness while watching my powwow films. I told them they could always turn off their TV’s.
There are various drum groups who compete in singing at the powwows, taking turns. Our drum group members at the prison told me I needed to record all of a song, not just parts of it. I slowly got better at filming. I tried to film 2-3 powwows each summer on various SD reservations.
One of my favorite powwows is the annual powwow at Agency Village on the Sisseton-Wahpeton reservation on the 4th of July weekend. It’s about a 5-hour roundtrip drive for me.
One year as I was setting up my camcorder, I was sitting close to a drum group. I told them I hoped they didn’t mind that I was recording for the prison channel and explained I was a volunteer there. One man in the group asked me how much I was going to pay them. I told them inmates don’t have money. Another one asked me if I could at least get them pen pals. I asked them if I had mentioned I volunteer at a men’s prison. They all laughed so hard they nearly fell off their chairs. For the rest of the afternoon, one or the other would ask the man who requested a pen pal if he still wanted one and they would all burst out laughing again. By the way, he did not give me his name or put in another request for a pen pal.
Powwows usually have a session on Friday evening, a session on Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon, and a final session on Sunday afternoon. They are like a giant family gathering with most of the people camping in designated areas. There is a powwow circuit that many dancers follow all summer. They get cash rewards for placing first, second, or third in their dance category.
For the male dancers, they compete in traditional, grass, or fancy dance competitions, which are often subdivided by age category. The women compete in traditional, fancy shawl, or jingle dress competitions. They make their own regalia, which is very beautiful. As you might guess, the dancers in the traditional contests wear clothing like their ancestors might have worn with the men wearing eagle feather bustles. The grass dance is supposed to be similar to tall grass blowing in a breeze so those dancers wear regalia with either yarn or ribbons hanging from them. Fancy dancers often wear two bustles with neon colors and do higher steps and turns. Jingle dress dancers have metallic cones sewn on their dresses so the dresses jingle as they dance. In the old days, they made the cones from the top of tobacco cans.
The grand entrance at a powwow resembles the opening parade at Old West shows like Buffalo Bill used to take to Europe. First, there is an eagle staff, then military flags, then dignitaries, with princesses from the various tribes following next. The male dancers follow them with the traditional adult males first, the grass dancers next, and the fancy dancers following them. The adult women are next with the traditional dancers first followed by the jingle dress dancers. Next, come the teenage dancers in the same order and last come the young children who are dancing. Depending on the size of a powwow, the grand entrance could take up to an hour. The dancers make concentric circles as they enter and dance around the arena.
On the edge of the dance grounds, outside the dance arena, there are booths selling traditional food like Indian tacos made with fry bread and buffalo soup. You can usually buy hamburgers and other non-traditional food too. There are other vendors selling T-shirts, jewelry, botanicals and toys. At some powwows, there are carnival rides on the grounds. There is often rodeo competition and/or softball games on the grounds too.
Drugs and alcohol are strictly forbidden. There is some element of ceremony at the powwows with the dancers dancing for those who can’t – the elderly and the deceased. Powwows are one gathering where everyone is welcome and tourists are often present.
There are also honoring at the powwows between the dances. People going into the military are honored. People getting out of the military are honored. Traditional names may be given to people. A star quilt is usually given to the person being honored. That person’s family will often give gifts to others attending the powwow. They might give out towels, sheets, apples or oranges. In Lakota belief, the rich man is the one who gives things away.
Mary Montoya
