Dancers Set Pace at Annual Tribal Event

Four Native American men and two young boys, wearing brightly colored headdresses and traditional dress, moved in unison in a tight circle to the pounding tribal drum music.

But it was no rain dance led by Saginaw Grant of the Sac and Fox nation.

That was too dangerous under Sunday’s mostly cloudy skies, said the organizers of the 21st annual Spring Powwow at Cal State Northridge.

“The last time we went to a powwow, rain ruined our regalia [traditional Native American dress],” said Glendale resident Steve Hanna, who attended the second day of the powwow Sunday with his wife, two daughters and mother.

So the kickoff for Sunday’s festivities was a performance that wouldn’t affect the weather.

It’s called a gourd dance, in which the participants carry a rattle in one hand and an eagle-feather fan attached to an eagle claw in the other, to honor war veterans.

Other dances followed, which is, after all, what a powwow is all about.

“A powwow is a gathering of American Indians to celebrate our culture and to carry on our tradition,” said George Patton, a member of CSUN’s American Indian Student Assn., the event’s sponsor.

About 2,000 visitors set up makeshift tents in Lot C of the CSUN campus as they watched the festivities

On Saturday, 4,000 visitors attended the powwow, which included a Native American dance contest and a community dinner featuring traditional Indian foods.

On both days, vendors set up booths selling Native American jewelry, literature, music, animal pelts and arts and crafts.

Sunday’s event concluded with a tribute to Mother’s Day. Mothers with infants were given gifts such as rattles and other toys, said Rebecca Harjo, a CSUN student and a member of the Creek and Choctaw nations.

Those with older children were given sage, a shrub-like herb that Harjo said is the traditional gift for mothers whose children are older than infants.