Powwow Keeps in Step With Tradition
Louise Marrone started her Easter morning at a sunrise service on Laguna Beach. By noon she stood at the edge of a large circle on the track field of El Camino College in Torrance admiring a maze of American Indian tribal dancers, many of them children, moving to a steady drum beat.
“It’s fabulous,” said Marrone, a Laguna Beach resident and law firm employee. “Look at the children. Many children of today don’t want to be bothered with the traditions of their fathers and grandfathers.”
As powwow season gets underway nationwide, Native Americans and non-Native Americans who attended the sixth annual Intertribal Powwow said that learning about new cultures and respecting ancient traditions drew them together, especially on a holy day for many others.
The powwow was organized by the Native American and anthropology student clubs at El Camino. It is among the earliest of many powwows scheduled this spring across Southern California, from Riverside to Malibu.
About 200 people attended, but organizers said that attendance was down slightly from Saturday’s events because many Native Americans also attend Christian churches and were celebrating Easter.
Still, the field was dotted with dancers, from toddlers to seniors, in colorful and elegant tribal costumes.
Master of ceremonies Michael Reifel of Venice, a San Carlos Apache, said he was glad to see people of different heritages attend a powwow on Easter.
“There are many different paths to a spiritual enlightenment,” Reifel said. “Even among Indians, we all don’t dance the same, we all don’t have the same traditions.”
The spiritual element of the day was especially vivid to the men who participated in the special Kiowa tribe gourd dance, performed by a society of Indian war veterans before the rest of the dancers entered.
“This is a time to renew friendships but it also has a spiritual meaning,” said Al Footracer, a Navajo who lives in Long Beach. “The arena is our church,” he added, motioning to the circle behind him.
The Los Angeles County Native American population, at 130,000, is one of the largest urban Indian communities in the U.S., Reifel said.
The county is also home to seven Native American churches, he said.
Mike Jett of Manhattan Beach attended his first powwow with his wife and three children.
“We had Easter baskets in the kitchen,” said Jett, who was looking for Blackfoot Indians or Blackfoot items on sale. He said he believed there was Blackfoot blood in his family history.
“Wife, kids, basketball, soccer, powwows,” he said.