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POWWOW: DEVIL WORSHIP OR HEALING SPIRIT?
by Peter d'Errico, Legal Studies & American Indian Studies
"We belong to Earth; Earth does not belong to us." Chief Seattle, 1854
WHAT: Ninth Annual American Indian Powwow
WHERE: Hampshire College
WHEN: 13-15 September
This Powwow will be the first to be held away from the University
campus, in recognition of the growing support for American Indian
studies throughout the Five Colleges. The Powwow will bring
together dancers, drummers and singers from several American
Indian nations for a weekend of celebration and exchange, open to
all people without charge. Vendors will offer American Indian
foods, crafts, books and other items for sale.
Those who have attended a Powwow know the excitement of the drum
and the dancing, and know, too, the feeling of shared spirit that
pervades the Powwow grounds. Students of American Indian culture
can learn much from a Powwow. Some dances reflect long spiritual
or social tradition; others are the outgrowth of modern tribal
experience. The drum represents the heart of the people; it is
the universal instrument. The songs express all facets of human
experience. The Powwow has roots that extend deep into the
history of indigenous life on this continent.
It has been said that the contemporary Powwow is a "pan-Indian"
ceremonial practice, which serves to preserve continuity with old
traditions from a variety of tribal groups. [Sam D. Gill, Native
American Religions, 1982] From this perspective, what we see in
the Powwow is an affirmation of being "Indian" that transcends
specific national identities. As a "pan-Indian" ceremony, the
Powwow is one response to the 500-year history of genocide in the
Americas, bringing together threads of common cultural meanings
into a vibrant and assertive presence.
Perhaps the most profound cultural meaning embodied in the Powwow
is health, spiritual and physical. Herein lies the significance
of the stamina of the dancers, the power of endurance of the
drummers and singers, the concentrated attention of the onlook-
ers. "Powwow" is the word used by Narragansett and Wampanoag
peoples to refer to what would also be called their "shaman"
healers or "medicine" persons. Seventeenth-century accounts are
filled with stories of the powwows and their power to cure
individuals and to lead communities. These stories describe the
dancing, drumming and singing that accompanied the work of the
powwow and were themselves referred to as a powwow.
The healing powers and community leadership associated with
Wampanoag and Narragansett "powwows" became an early target of
colonial ministers and administrators. No less a figure than
Governor Edward Winslow of Plymouth attacked powwows as agents
and activities of the devil [Howard S. Russell, Indian New
England Before the Mayflower, 1980]; sorcery and witchcraft were
asserted by Puritans as an excuse for violent intolerance of the
powwows.
In 1646, the Massachusetts General Court decreed "that no Indian
shall at any time pawwaw, or perform outward worship to their
false gods, or to the devil." [Francis Jennings, The Invasion of
America, 1975] Colonial policy toward powwows can be seen as an
extension of the Christian campaign to eradicate indigenous
religions -- particularly Earth-centered religions -- in Europe.
The colonial association of powwow with witchcraft persists to
the present day in standard dictionary definitions of "powwow."
Powwow has another set of meanings, derived from the community
activity that is part of the powwow. Feasting, talking, ex-
change -- a combination of formal and informal council -- are as
much a part of powwow as are the central ceremonial events. It is
here that we find a more congenial Anglo-European understanding
of indigenous cultures; and this understanding also persists in
the modern definition of "powwow" as a meeting, conference, or
discussion.
The Five College community is fortunate to be a Powwow site. The
world continues to see indigenous peoples being destroyed; some
of this destruction, though it is described (in the new lingo of
war) as "collateral" to industrialization, is clearly intentional
-- the result of policy choices consciously made. In the midst of
this continuing global attack on "tribal" peoples, we are moving
toward the 500th anniversary of Anglo-European adventurism on
this continent. There will be many official "celebrations" of
this date. What the Powwow offers is a chance to see the world
from another perspective, one which looks to dance and song as
the essence of life:
... the Indian wants to dance! It is his way of ex-
pressing devotion, of communing with unseen power, and
in keeping his tribal identity. When the Lakota heart
was filled with high emotion, he danced. When he felt
the benediction of the warming rays of the sun, he
danced. When his blood ran hot with success of the
hunt or chase, he danced. When his heart was filled
with pity for the orphan, the lonely father, or be-
reaved mother, he danced. ... Did dancing mean much to
the white people they would better understand ours. Yet
at the same time there is no attraction that brings
people from such distances as a certain tribal dance,
for the reason that the white mind senses its mystery,
for even the white man's inmost feelings are uncon-
sciously stirred by the beat of the tomtom. They are
heart-beats, and once all men danced to its rhythm.
[Luther Standing Bear, Land of the Spotted Eagle, 1933]
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Peter d'Errico
Legal Studies Department
University of Massachusetts/Amherst 01003
phone: 413-545-2003
fax: 413-545-1640
email: derrico@legal.umass.edu
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