Saturday 13 July 2019

Little Truths About Pow Wows 2019

By Jerry Rogers


Festivals all around the world are most of the times viewed as an expression of uniqueness, identity and positive relationships with other groups of people. Every country has their own way of celebrating their festivities, on which visitors and spectators will have a good time watching their performances or simply dining out at never before tried cuisines. It is this kind of anticipation that the pow wows 2019 event is excitedly being awaited by many people because of its richness in imagery and meaning.

In a stricter sense, the event is a social gathering organized by different Native American societies. However, the modern version today is when these people held it to give value to their cultures, coupled with dancing and singing all the day long or perhaps will last for a week. Sometimes, there would be dance competitions among different tribal groups with a sizeable monetary reward for the winners.

Preparations for the event is insanely long, often taking a year before the date arrives. Most of the times, groups of tribes may volunteer to be the sponsors of that event and that will set everything in motion by then. It is their task to advertise, prepare the venue and make an agreement between vendors who will be setting their makeshift tents to display their wares.

The deafening distant sound of the drums is usually the signal that the feast is about to begin. It has a rhythmic beating signifying unity, brotherhood and peace for all who come for the celebration. Along this beats are distinctive styles of songs that could be heard at a distance.

Their traditional dances are rich in movement and has depth in meaning, since they were a gathering for religious leaders in each tribe. Sometimes, wars between them are ended here with a peace treaty and this gives a significant unifying attribute to the festivity. As it is in actuality a ritual for medical practices, mending wounded relationships is part of the essence on this feast.

What is peculiar about this ceremony is that everybody is invited, friend or foe, so it was crucial that somebody would act as the middleman between them to keep everything in order. In festivities today, you can call this person as the master of ceremony who will see to it that everything flows smoothly. It is very much like the Olympics of old wherein warring states of ancient Greece would stop their wars after four years to play games in honor of the gods.

What their society really is could be reflected by the way they dance and sang their songs, aside from their exhibits for everyone to see. Sometimes, they will cook food prepared by their own way of serving them. You might also get to see fine arts from their tribes and marvel at their deep meaning.

Their songs hold a special place in their hearts, as these carry along their rich traditions and culture ultimately passing them on to the next generation. Most of them are still sung in their native languages, whether composed originally or a revival of some sort. Usually, when singing commences, that is also the start of dancing by different groups.

We need to stop judging people based on our own standards and look at them in their own unique way. Being one with them can help you understand how they managed to survive over the years in an ever changing environment. We can learn in as much that they do the same on us.




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