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Check out more Pow Wow pictures on the Gallery page!
The contemporary pow wow is a tribal or inter-tribal gathering of Native American and non-Native peoples to sing, dance, eat, see old friends and hopefully make new ones, while honouring Native cultures. The term “pow wow” is from the Algonquian word “pau waus” which means “spiritual leader.” Early explorers to the Northeast mistook the word to stand for the entire gathering of people rather than just the leader who had drawn them there.
There are a few stories about how the pow wow began: Some say the war dance societies of the Southern Plains tribes started the pow wow. Others say that the pow wow began when Native Americans were forced into reservations and made to dance for the white public; before the dances, the performers were lead through the town as a parade and this is today’s Grand Entry of the pow wow.
Regardless of how pow wows began, they are now a joyful and important part of urban and non-urban Native cultures and experiences, where families and friends can come together. At the pow wow, drummers and singers provide the music for dancers to compete or simply participate in traditional dances. Native vendors sell jewelry, clothes, regalia, art and other works, and of course, delicious Native food is available for purchase.
Brown University’s Annual Spring Thaw PowWow began in 2002, started by the Native Americans at Brown (NAB), a student led organization. Every year this group serves as the pow wow committee and begins the hard work of organizing and fundraising for the event long before it happens. The PowWow is the culminating, celebratory event of the year-long Native heritage series (please check out the Events page to see what’s coming up), and draws hundreds of dancers, drummers and vendors from around Indian Country. The Brown PowWow welcomes all who would like to attend; hope to see you there!
Darren Modzelewski '02:
“Planning the Powwow was challenging to say the least. Most people I spoke with thought it was a great idea, several departments even gave money, verbal support etc. So, with a little money in hand NAB went to the people who actually do things, Deans of Student, activities office etc. I remember trying to explain the Powwow, what it would be, why we needed it, etc and getting looked at like I had six heads! The Powwow was great on paper but not on the Main Green or on the Basketball courts...moccasins might scratch the floor. Eventually we convinced the administration to give us Sayles Hall...basically we wouldn't stop visiting their offices until we got what we wanted. We knew we were doing something important, so there was no way we would give up.
When President Simmons walked into Sayles Hall, she was shocked and amazed, I really don't think she expected to see Sayles filled with dancers, drums, vendors and Brown students. The Hall was packed to the gills! I think at that moment she felt a small part of what we knew about the Powwow. I don't know, but I'd like to hope that that was the moment she decided to continue to fund the Powwow.
Also, Craig Love and Bill Simmons saved the Powwow. We were about 2000 dollars short two weeks before the event. Dr. Craig Love wrote Bill a personal letter. Bill Simmons, who already donated about 4000 dollars wrote NAB another check for 2000, from his office account. He was Dean at the time.”
Nitana Hicks '03 :
My favorite memory of being at Brown was the Grand Entry of our first powwow in 2002. All those dancers and spectators – family, Native people from the area and members of the Brown community – all packed into the tiny Sayles Hall, I think that was my happiest moment at Brown. It was the first time Brown really felt like home for me. Being from the area, my whole family was able to be there and many of the people who attended were people I’ve known my whole life. Being part of NAB and a part of a group who was able to bring something so important to the community still gives me a really great sense of pride.
Elizabeth Hoover, PhD '09 :
As an undergrad at Williams College, I ran 3 intertribal pow-wows by myself. It was horrendously stressful and I swore I would never run another pow-wow again. The first NAB meeting I went to after coming to Brown as a grad student, I mentioned that I had run these powwows. Everyone's eyes lit up; I knew I was in for it. That was seven years ago and I still haven't quite managed to retire from the pow-wow committee. That first year we had no idea what to expect-- I just sent e-mails and fliers to everyone I knew and hoped for the best. We ended up with over 70 dancers, five drums, and twenty vendors, packed into tiny little Sayles Hall. It was overwhelming, but fantastic-- I think this was the first time there had ever been such a large gathering of Native people at Brown. We had an incident where some of the local tribal members felt that they were not adequately represented by this university pow-wow on their traditional territory, but as a group of intertribal students from around the country we did our best to make sure that both they, and the broadly diverse student body and urban Indian populations were appropriately included. Since then I think the pow-wow has been a vehicle for Brown University to reach out to the local Native population in a way that it has not tried to do in the past, something we will continue to work on in the future.
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