This year's Powwow to honor mothers

Three hundred dancers and 30,000 spectators are expected on campus for the 32nd annual Stanford Powwow, to be held Mother's Day weekend, May 9-11. "Honoring Our Mothers" is the theme of the intertribal powwow, hosted by the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO), a student group.

Dance competitions will begin on Friday evening, following a grand entry of dancers at 7 p.m., and will continue on Saturday and Sunday beginning each day at 1 p.m. Competitions will include men's northern traditional, southern straight, grass and fancy dancing, and women's northern traditional, southern traditional, jingle and fancy shawl dancing. A "golden age" dance category for contestants over 50 has been added this year, said Juliette Jeanne, powwow committee co-chair.

Along with dancing, the gathering will include approximately 100 art, crafts, food and information booths. The committee has worked to encourage more Bay Area groups to set up information booths at the event, Jeanne said. The annual gathering helps recruit students to Stanford, she said. "It's a chance for the community to make its presence known," she added. "We are living proof that Native kids can get here."

Powwow masters of ceremonies and their tribal affiliations are Butch Felix, Sicangu Lakota, from Sisseton, S.D., and Tom Phillips, Kiowa/Muskogee, from Manteca, Calif. Arena director is Wade Baker, Hidatsa, from New Town, N.D., and head judge is Emerson Nakai, Navajo, from Blanding, Utah. The Northern drum group is the Porcupine Singers, from Porcupine, S.D., and the southern drum group is YoungBird Singers, from Shawnee, Okla.

A new event this year is a Friday night concert, which will be held in the Old Union Ballroom at 10 p.m. and will feature Native Roots, an Albuquerque-based reggae band; Ras K'dee, a Pomo hip-hop artist; and Diskarte, a Filipino band. The concert and powwow are free, but donations will be accepted.

The powwow, held in the eucalyptus grove in the Arboretum for five years, will shift a few hundred yards north this year, Jeanne said. SAIO planted native grass in the circle where the powwow has been held to help control dust, Jeanne said. This newly planted area will be cordoned off to prevent damage, Jeanne said. The 2003 powwow circle will be between El Camino Real and Arboretum Road near Galvez Street.

The powwow, which will take place rain or shine, is open to the public and overnight camping is available by reservation. Limited bleacher seating is available; visitors may want to bring lawn chairs, sunscreen and hats.

Information is available online at http://powwow.stanford.edu or by calling the Native American Cultural Center at 723-4078.