printable versionAnnual powwow to showcase Native culture and community
BY MASSIE SANTOS BALLON
In keeping with a Mother's Day tradition at Stanford, the largest student-run powwow in the country returns this weekend. Now in its 37th year, the Stanford Powwow is expected to match last year's huge turnout, which filled the Eucalyptus Grove next to the stadium with some 300 dancers and 30,000 attendees overall.
As in previous years, this year's gathering centers around the themes of "honoring our mothers" and "empowerment through education." According to the event's publicity chair, senior Katie Jones, the festivities also give Native American alumni a chance to reconnect. "For many Native alumni, this is their homecoming, rather than the official 'homecoming' weekend."
"The powwow is a time for gathering and sharing," said Joseph Flies-Away, an alumnus from the Class of 1989 who has participated for years, "to hear and remember better times."
Among the events scheduled over the three-day powwow are 23 dance competitions for males and females of all ages in categories such as the jingle dress dance, grass dance and fancy shawl dance.
While some of the dancers may come just to compete, Flies-Away said, the event is a way to share "one tiny part of Native culture" with Palo Alto and surrounding areas.
Flies-Away, an expert on Indian tribal law and a judge in Arizona, said powwow attendees come not just from around the nation but from Canada and Mexico. "The powwow helps to educate and promote tribal existence and being," he said, "just by it being produced each year."
The judge, a member of the Hualapai Nation, noted that the event has grown and relocated since the days when he helped organize it. One change he considers an improvement is the help that students now receive from university staff in organizing the event. "Before it was only students," he said. "It can be a very difficult production, but the staff help to make sure it goes on, given students are still learning."
Three-time powwow publicity chair Jones agreed that helping to organize the event while juggling coursework—and in her case, being president of two other student clubs—teaches more than just how to prioritize. "It gets easier in the sense that I actually know what I'm doing," she said. "I'm always trying to figure out how I can do something better."
Jones is part of the current core group of 35 students who have spent months planning this event between classes and during breaks. Shortly after the Stanford Powwow concludes, she explained, new co-chairs are elected and the work for next year's program starts in earnest in the fall, with various sub-committees handling different parts of the event.
It's estimated 100 to 300 people will camp out in the grove over the weekend. Some will be travelers simply opting for more economical lodging; others will be vendors who will run the array of booths. Jones noted that Native organizations such as the American Indian Child Resource Center and the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley will have information booths at the event.
"The food booths largely offer frybread and Indian tacos, but we also have burgers, Asian food, smoothies and kettle corn available," Jones said. "The arts and crafts booths, obviously, sell a wide variety of Native arts, crafts and jewelry."
New at this year's powwow will be a basketball tournament scheduled for Sunday morning. The Maurice Morsette Memorial 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, named after the Stanford sophomore who died last year, is expected to host 16 teams of three to five players competing in a round-robin format. An avid basketball player, Morsette belonged to the Native American community basketball team while at Stanford.
Organizers also rely on the help of several hundred volunteers from on campus and off. Anyone interested in volunteering should e-mail the event's volunteer coordinator, Lindsey Smith, at supowwow.volunteers@gmail.com, by tomorrow night.
Jones said she participates to help represent the Native American community and to be part of one of the largest events held at Stanford. "We're the minority of minorities and a lot of people don't really know that much about our cultures or that we even still exist. Powwow shows that Native American cultures are alive and vibrant," Jones said. "So that's the main motivation. Also, it's really fun."
Though her work includes promoting the event on campus, in the Bay Area and throughout the country, the longevity of the Stanford Powwow makes Jones' job somewhat easier.
"People know about our powwow because it's been going on for so long," she said. "We're one of the first colleges in the nation, and in the Bay Area, to have such an event established."
An event this large requires substantial funding. Jones said the cost of last year's powwow came to nearly $140,000. The money is raised throughout the year through a variety of sources, including fundraisers, contributions from dorms and the community, and fees and donations during the powwow itself. Jones also noted that additional funding in recent years has come from the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs and the President's Office.
The powwow will start with the grand entry at 7 p.m. Friday, May 9, and continue through Sunday evening. The event is free but donations for admission are accepted.
Massie Santos Ballon is an intern at the Stanford News Service.
