Seeing the Future Through the Past: A New Powwow Tradition

Despite the inevitable transformation of the traditional Powwow, the fundamental concept remains unchanged. A powwow is a gathering of Native people, a reunion of spirit, and a celebration of culture. Most powwow’s have similar features and events i.e. dancing, drumming, singing and food. And overwhelmingly a powwow in any state, hosted by any tribe, has the power to bring people together and to cleanse the spirit like a spring rain. Breaking free from a heavy cloud of struggle, members of the Catawba Indian Nation dreamt of such a rain. For ten years they dreamt and planned to host a much needed powwow.
In April 18th of 2010, this dream came true. Organized by the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project, the Catawba powwow joined with the Rock Hill South Carolina Come-See-Me festival. This popular community gathering festival began in 1962 and since, “the festival has been ranked in the South’s Top 20 Spring Festivals numerous times.” The Catawba powwow was featured along with tennis tournaments, races, parades, garden shows and even a Teddy Bear tea party. To some this was a disappointment, but to others it was a power opportunity, a very public display of Catawba cultural heritage, perseverance and pride. This partnership with the Come-See-Me Festival attracted many outside the Catawba community who may not have attended the powwow as a standalone event. It was a carefully thought and diligently produced event.
Although, some found the audacity of a dancer who was apparently text messaging during the performance less than pride inducing. The dancer may not have been a Catawba Indian; there were many guest performers from tribes around the region. Regardless, however minuet the disruption, it caused quite a stir. There are those who ache for the power to freeze time, they imagine that American Indians exist in the past and that any modern display makes them somehow inauthentic. It’s a constant struggle for Native peoples moving forward with the times whilst still holding on to important cultural connections. Technology is a fact of our collective existence, and if anything, the situation simply illuminated something our cultures share, the phenomenon of “texting addiction”. Despite that tiny storm, the Catawba powwow was a success. Chief Donald Rodgers intends to make the powwow and annual event. And like Jered Catny, a Catawba Indian who returned home from college to perform in the event, the powwow brings home a revitalized connection to a windswept culture that survives on the spirit of its members, the beats of its songs, the steps of its dances, the stories of its past and its hopes for the future.

Resources:

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/powwow/46469752.html

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/powwow/46470142.html

http://comeseeme.rockhill.net