One of my favorite times of the year is when it’s time for the powwow’s to start. Last year I didn’t get the chance to attend any, and I was saddened that Schemitzun, the powwow that I would attend back at home, was canceled last year for financial reasons. As it stands Schemitzun has been canceled “indefinitely” and will apparently resume when the economy gets better. But, here in Southern California there are usually a number of events during the year to attend. And that’s a good thing because I can’t get enough of going and seeing the Chicken Dancers.

A video highlighting a men’s chicken dance competition by PowWowNations.com

There are many different dance styles that you’ll find at a powwow and many of them have legends and stories behind them and are also often part of ceremonies from different tribal nations. The Prairie Chicken Dance, most commonly called the Chicken Dance, is one of these. This dance is a bit different from some of the others and, like all the different dance styles seen at a powwow today, you can often tell the Chicken Dancers from other dancers based on the costume.

The Prairie Chicken Dance is said to have originated from the Blackfoot Indians while others say it came from the Cree Indians. There are stories and legends that attribute the dance to either-or including one that claims that a man by the name of Ron Atcheyum of the Cree Nation was given visions in his dreams of what would become the Chicken Dance. It was a dance that was shown to him by God to be a tribute to the Prairie Chicken, a creature that God created and enjoyed soley for the joy it gave through a dance that it would do, a dance that came naturally and was a celebration of life. The bird was soon gone, presumably hunted into extinction, and this vision was granted to Ron in hopes that he would create a dance to be presented to the people and to God as a tribute to the the Prairie Chicken. Ron created a costume and a dance and presented it at a powwow and soon it began to be emulated by many and became a regular part of the powwow dances. Another story of it’s origin, one from the Blackfeet people, originates from the Kittokii Society, a religious society. It talks of a man who, while hunting food for his family, hunts and kills the last of the Prairie Chickens in order to provide for them. During the night in his dreams the spirit of the bird comes to him to ask why he killed him, and the man explains that he needed to feed and care for his family. The Prairie Chicken accepts this and tells the man that he must now keep his memory and spirit alive by going to his people and spreading the beauty of his dance and, if he should choose not to, the spirit of the bird would come back and take his life; this came to be how the dance was known.

Which is “right”, to me, isn’t as important as the essence of the dance. The dance is designed to imitate the mating dance of the Prairie Chicken and celebrate it’s beauty and grace. The dance that is seen at pow wows today is, to the best of my knowledge (and I am certainly no expert on the subject) only a small portion, a glimpse, of a larger ceremony. The dance is a beautiful one and one that, in the above video, I think is well displayed.

Powwows today are not what they were in days gone by and are getting to be money making ventures (from what I’ve seen and what I’ve hear from others who attend more events around the country). It’s more and more about how much cash can be pulled in, both for vendors and for those holding the events, than it is about displaying and sharing the the wonderful culture of our native nations. Unfortunately for me, my heritage goes back to a tribe that has no representation at any events I’ve been to, with the exception of the vendor booths (the Passamaquoddy’s are known for their baskets). But it seems to be more and more about how much fry bread gets sold and less about the culture and religious ceremony of the tribal nations. In fact the only spiritual thing happening at the last Schemitzun event I went to in 2008 was a Christian church tent set up holding worship services during the powwow and trying to get people into their tent by holding hourly iPod and flat screen TV raffles.

It’s a shame really, and I hope that somewhere, even if it’s only a few tiny events here and there, that someone is doing something to try and keep some of the cultures histories and sacred elements alive during all of the eating and shopping. Given that a large number of non-natives or those either uneducated or under-educated about their native heritage attend these events, it would be nice to see someone do something to keep the life in these things.

In the meantime, check out some of these other links and resources:
Powwows.com
Gathering of Nations
Native American Times
The Circle
Native Spirits (a Ning community)
The Black Lodge Singers
Powwow Radio

Also, to help to avoid being taken in by any of the many non-natives trying to cash in on the new age interest in the Native American culture or spirituality and healing, pay a visit to Don’t Pay to Pray. Be on the look out for people like James Arthur Ray (who we all know by now for his horrible mockery of a sweat lodge ceremony) and White Eagle Medicine Woman (affectionately known as White Ego Woman; you can find plenty of info on her by searching “white eagle medicine woman fraud” in Google). The Don’t Pay to Pray website will help you find information on both of these people as well as many others who are selling false history, false tradition and false spirituality.