Powwow Wow

Rumbling drum beats, freshly made American Indian cuisine and dancers clad in feathered headdresses, beads and skins will be part of the pomp and pageantry of the Eagle Point Powwow at Lake Casitas this weekend.

Sioux, Cherokee, Laguna Pueblo, Chumash, Kiowa and Pawnee dancers from as far away as South Dakota and Oklahoma will perform during the Lake Casitas event, coordinator Robert Peterson said. More than 5,500 visitors are expected to attend the dance competitions.

“The powwow circuit is like a rodeo circuit,” Peterson said recently. “We’re the newest stop on the powwow trail.”

Organizers hope to make the powwow an annual event.

Dance contests for women and children will be held Saturday; men will compete Sunday in traditional and fancy dancing. Between events, visitors will be invited to join in intertribal social dancing.

Other entertainment will include re-enactments of 19th-Century history at the Tepee Village. “This will provide visitors a glimpse of what life was like back in that era,” Peterson said.

Lake Casitas is five miles southwest of Ojai on Casitas Pass Road. Follow signs to the powwow entrance. The event will be held 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. A ground-blessing ceremony will be at 9 a.m. Saturday; the public is welcome. Admission is $4.50, $3.50 for senior citizens and $2.50 for students. Children under 12 will be admitted free. For information, call 643-4950 or (800) 766-PWOW.