Heartfelt Heritage : Powwow Drumbeats Bring Indian Culture and Spirit to Many

Medicine Man John (Grandpa) Whitecloud, wearing blue jeans and a green T-shirt, his gray hair tied in a braid, walked around the dance arena carrying a container of burning sage Saturday.

He fanned the incense with the sacred eagle feather, and with his head bowed, Whitecloud prayed in his native tongue.

The 80-year-old American Indian elder was blessing the ground before the start of a powwow at Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

“I bless the arena so the people who come out won’t get sick and hurt--and they will be happy and be one big family,” said Whitecloud, who lives in Apple Valley and is a member of the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico.

The third annual Pow Wow, a social gathering of tribes, is hosted by the college’s Native American Student Organization and continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The first day’s festivities drew thousands of participants and spectators.

“We’re mainly doing this for traditional purposes,” said Ernie Whitecloud, grandson of Whitecloud and one of the event’s organizers. “It’s not to show off, but for all the nations, it is a social gathering to keep our song and dance alive.”

Ernie Whitecloud, 34, who is also part of a four-generation drum group called the “Whitecloud Singers,” said the event shows the public the true spirit of American Indians.

“It makes them aware of who we are,” said Whitecloud of Huntington Beach.

Tom Mitchell, 23, of Costa Mesa, a student at Cal State Long Beach, said that holding powwows helps break the stereotyping of American Indians.

“It promotes a sense of understanding between people--it’s like an opening up of our culture to (contemporary) society to make them realize we don’t live in tepees anymore,” said Mitchell, who is of the Hadatsa and Paiute tribes.

Mitchell said he enjoys powwows because he can be comfortable among his own people.

“You can be yourself--because that’s who I am,” he said.

The powwow features more than 60 exhibitors selling American Indian jewelry, crafts and artwork. Authentic food, such as Navajo tacos, is also sold.

But the dancing and the singing--with singers of different tribes pounding out traditional songs on drums--is the heart of the powwow.

During the event’s opening dance Saturday afternoon, members from different tribes were clothed in their colorful native dress, wearing moccasins and beads and carrying eagle feathers. To the sounds of beating drums and symbolic singing, the dancers paraded into the arena to celebrate and re-enact their heritage.

Wearing a “dog soldier” headdress of black turkey feathers and white eagle feathers, Kudura Clarke, 24, of San Fernando said that for him, dancing is a way of life, a way of preserving his Choctaw and Black Foot Blood heritage.

“Right now, we’re making our ancestors happy because we’re out there dancing,” said the warrior-dressed Clarke. He learned native dances from his grandfather and carried a beaded dance stick with a bald eagle’s claw in one hand and an eagle feather fan in the other.

Dancer Sharon Brokeshoulder, outfitted in her family’s colors of brilliant orange and royal blue, wore a Ponca-style skirt and long blouse with a matching shawl over one arm. Brokeshoulder also said dancing carries on tribal tradition.

“When I’m dancing out there, I dance for my family,” Brokeshoulder, who lives at Camp Pendleton, said of Navajo and Comanche tribes. “I remember the things they taught me and it’s something I’m very proud of.”

Admission to the event is 50 cents, or a canned food item may be donated to the Southern California Indian Center in Garden Grove. Proceeds will go toward scholarships for American Indian students.