Pow-Wow at Watersmeet


Watersmeet - August 13, 2009 The pow-wow at Lac Vieux Desert Watersmeet came to a close Sunday after three exciting days of pow wow. The event seemed in jeopardy Friday evening when a severe storm raged through the area. Tents were blown down by the stronf winds and regalia damaged by the heavy rains. One tent blown over caught fire and was destroyed. Unfortunately, the weather sent some Pow-Wow participants home. Pictured above is Richard Winter, who was visiting the pow-wow with his daughter (Miss Bad River 2009), wife and son. Ken is one of the many U.S. Veterans who participated in the Grand Entry.
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The Pow Wow begins by the Grand Entry. This is the entry of all the people entering the arena. This originally was a parade through the town the Pow Wow was in. Even today in some Pow Wows, these parades are still held. During the Grand Entry, everyone is asked to stand as the flags are brought into the arena. The flags carried generally include the US flag, tribal flags, POW flag, and eagle staffs of various tribes present. These are usually carried by veterans. Native Americans hold the United States flag in an honored position despite the horrible treatment received from this country. The flag has a dual meaning. First it is a way to remember all of the ancestors that fought against this country. It is also the symbol of the United States which Native Americans are now a part. The flag here also reminds people of those people who have fought for this country

The event was smaller than in previous years, however, the weekend would still be considered a success. There were many dancers and twelve drum groups present. The Badger Singers from the Hayworth were on hand to participate in the weekend event. The group consisting of approximately ten members, have been together for 35 years. As is with all such events there were numerous vendors for for crafts, souvenirs and good food. The announcer for the event told the crowd not to worry about the rain clouds lingering in the area, that one of the tribe members was doing a "Sun Dance" . Maybe he did or maybe he didn't , but the clouds gave way to plenty of warm "sunshine."

Pictured above left - Fletcher Allan, head dancer. above right future head dancer

Also visiting the pow-wow was Karen-Kangas-Tiziani, Ironwood resident and GOISD instructor. Karen, teaches several of the Watersmeet students.

One thing that became more appearent with this visit was how much of a family affair the pow-wow is. This rang loud and clear when we thought about Richard Winter and his family who sat right next to us at the pow-wow. Richard's son, Ken was a busy but, quiet youngster. While his parents and sister were readying for the Grand Entry, little Ken kept busy the whole time, by making grass soup in the cup holder of his folding chair. This little guy was typical rather than atypical for the many kids that come to the pow-wows. No surprise, after all this is a "family event" .

This as with any event, be it pow-wow, picnic, fair or whatever, kids seem to have the greatest time without play stations, Game Boys and the like. They use their time away from computer chips quite well. And, they actually can use their social skills to communicate without text messaging. This was IronwoodInfo's second visit to the Watersmeet pow-wow. We enjoyed the visit just as much this visit as we did our first visit. If you have never been to a pow-wow you've missed a lot. Try to attend this one next year.