Here‘s a heartwarming story about Four Rivers Drum, and their experiences when they were asked to be the drop-in drum at the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Powwow, which attracts about 10,000 people.

Vince Schilling, Indian Country Today correspondent, explains the group thusly:

Four Rivers Native American Drum started in the mid 1990s with just four drummers and singers and has grown to 19 members. The group played without a name at their first five powwows and locals referred to them as the “no-name drum.” They eventually named themselves Four Rivers because of their location on the Virginia Peninsula. In order for members to perform at an event, they must cross one of the four rivers that surround them.

Michael Cloud-Butler, Ojibwe, second singer and drummer, says the powwow has been held since the 1990s and has helped Virginia Beach understand Native culture.

“When the city started, they knew very little about Native American culture – it takes several years to learn everything,” he says.

But with the most recent powwow, he says, “It was a comfortable feeling today – and to have visited several times as a drum group – it is like a hometown powwow because we live here.”

People on Hawaii’s big island can mark Memorial Day weekend by going to the Hilo Inter-Tribal PowWow, now in its fifth year.

Terrie Henderson of the Big Island Weekly writes here that the event is organized by Liz and Troy De Roche, and emphasizes connections between Native American and Hawaiian peoples and cultures.

Troy De Roche will be cooking up the wildly popular fry bread and pleasing the crowd with his traditional flute playing. Troy, whose been known to play the flute with flour on his shirt from baking the bread, told Big Island Weekly last year that the recipe he uses for the fry bread is handed down from his grandmother. The Indian tacos are also always a big hit, according to the De Roche family.

This year’s event also will feature the return of Seneca Nation member and former Big Island resident Mike Gates. Gates will be the head dance and Fredricka “Freddie” Hunter, who is Blackfeet from Montana, is head woman dancer.

The host drum for the powwow will be The Wildhorse Singers from Torrance, Calif., cormprising drummers and singers from the Navajo, Apache, Tohono O’Odham and Cherokee nations.

Gwen Florio

Free blood glucose tests offered at last month’s Gathering of Nations powwow in Albuquerque may have exposed people to blood-borne diseases and anyone who was tested should get a follow-up risk assessment, Indian Country Today’s Gale Courey Toensing reports here:

Officials from the cultural center and the UNM Health Science Center issued the alert in a press conference and on the university’s Web site about the diabetes testing incident that took place during the weekend of the Gathering of Nations powwow and the cultural center’s American Indian Week “Pueblo Days.”

A group of student volunteers from the university’s Physician Assistant program held a free diabetes screening clinic at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center that week, but they did the tests incorrectly, using the same needle on multiple people and potentially exposing them to diseases spread by blood contact, according to Dr. Bob Bailey, associate dean of the university’s Health Science Center and incident commander.

“We estimate that 51 to 55 individuals were tested, potentially exposing these people to others’ blood. The diseases of greatest concern are Hepatitis B and C although theoretically HIV is also possible. Our best current assessment of the risk of infection is less than a 0.5 percent risk. Even though the risk is small it is something we are very concerned about and are taking it seriously,” Bailey said.

People who were tested, or who know someone who was tested, should contact the University of New Mexico, which will cover costs of follow-up services. Not everyone who was tested may have been exposed.

Bailey tells Toensing he’s “concerned that some people are seeing this as poor care provided to Native Americans. It wasn’t the quality of care we want to provide, but unfortunately we did it and we provided to everybody there.” Not everyone tested was Native.

Public health authorities are requesting that those who participated in the diabetes screening event contact 1-888-899-6092 for more information and referral for screening. Or, click here for the notice, which includes a web form for contact.

Gwen Florio

A North Pole, Alaska, woman, Alanna Gibson, will be among the 27 young women vying for the title of Miss Indian World this weekend in Albuquerque, N.M.

Gibson, 21, who is Athabascan was named Miss World Eskimo-Indian Olympics in July, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports here.

Saturday’s pageant is part of the Gathering of Nations, which bills itself as the world’s largest powwow.

Gibson will sing a traditional Athabascan song that she practiced with her grandmother, Geraldine Charlie. She also studied the dances of Eskimo cultures so she could fully represent Alaska Natives.

Contestants are judged on tribal knowledge and on personality, as well as on talent.

Follow her progress and that of the other contestants on the MissIndianWorld Twitter feed, here.

Gwen Florio

Here‘s today’s Missoulian story in full:

Organizers of this year’s Kyi-Yo Pow Wow did not receive funds from the University of Montana in advance – as was the practice in previous powwows – and so ended up without enough money to pay out prizes to hundreds of contestants, Kyi-Yo secretary Suzette LaPlant-Means said Wednesday.

It fell to LaPlant-Means to take the stage at about 3 a.m. Sunday before an angry powwow crowd and announce – to jeers and boos – that some prizes were being eliminated altogether and that the rest of the prize winners would only get about 10 percent to 15 percent of what they expected.

The situation resulted in a highly unusual apology Tuesday from UM administrators to the Native American community for “inadequate planning and communication.”

But Bob Duringer, UM vice president for administration and finance, said the reason this year’s Kyi-Yo did not receive such “working capital,” which in previous years has amounted to $20,000 to $30,000 placed in a vault a couple of days before the powwow, is because the committee hadn’t raised enough money in advance.

“We only extend working capital to what we think the budget will tolerate,” Duringer said. “This year, since expenses were about the same and their revenues were way down, if we extended more working capital than they were good for, then the university would have taken a loss.”

But the university will take a hit, anyway. As part of Tuesday’s apology, the university vowed to pay all prizewinners at the same level awarded 2009 winners.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here‘s the full Missoulian story about the unfortunate events during last weekend’s student Kyi-Yo Pow Wow:

The University of Montana issued a rare formal apology Tuesday to “the greater Native American community” for poor planning by university administrators that resulted in paltry prize money for winners in last weekend’s Kyi-Yo Pow Wow competitions.

“Specifically, the university did not plan adequately and did not anticipate the shortfall in total revenue. This inadequate planning and communication impacted many powwow participants and Kyi-Yo members who left the event feeling understandably disappointed and hurt,” said a statement from the office of UM Vice President for Student Affairs Teresa Branch.

The statement went on to say that the university “meant no disrespect” to Kyi-Yo planners, and that competitors would be paid on a level with last year’s winners.

But by the time the university’s announcement was made Tuesday afternoon, much damage had already been done. The powwow – which events coordinator Robert Peltier termed “one of the best Kyi-Yo Celebrations in history” – ended in tears and recriminations for many people. At about 3 a.m. Sunday, when it became apparent the prize money would fall far short, student organizers were booed, he said.

“It’s been very difficult on a lot of people, especially the students. They were devastated,” said Peltier, who took over as coordinator just two weeks before the powwow.

Kyi-Yo is the longest-running student powwow in the United States, and to serve on the organizing committee provides “a sense of accomplishment that you carry with you for the rest of your life,” Peltier said of the student organizers. “That was basically stripped from them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kyi-Yo powwow at the University of Montana
It’s the longest-running student powwow in the country. The Kyi-Yo Pow Wow is going on this weekend at the University of Montana, and as usual, it’s a cultural and visual feast. “For us, this is life. There is no reconnection to the past for us. You might see it that way, but this is the life that we live,” Billy Wadsworth, lead singer of a Blood drum circle, tells the Missoulian’s Michael Moore, here.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris funds anti-Native cigarette campaign
The huge Philip Morris tobacco company has begun an extensive ad campaign urging New York state to collect taxes on cigarettes sold in Indian reservations. This story by Indian Country Today details those efforts, involving full-page newspaper ads and a website, collectthetaxny.com.

First Nations community kicks out drug, alcohol abusers
The hereditary chiefs of Ahousaht, a First Nations community on Flores Island in British Columbia, have banished a dozen drug and alcohol abusers, the Vancouver Sun reports here. The chiefs said the wrenching decision was made after many warnings, and that the 12 can’t return until they’ve sought help.

Judge halts election of new Navajo Council
Although Navajo Nation voters decided in December to reduce the size of the council from 88 to 24 members, candidates filed for 88 seats. So, according to the Navajo Times, a judge has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the election from going forward until the issue can be resolved.

Group seeks Alaska Native center in downtown Anchorage
A nonprofit called Sobermiut is trying to create an Alaska Native community center in Anchorage, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The idea is to put Native kids in touch with elders, in a setting that mirrors the dynamic found in traditional communities.

Billy Mills back in Kansas with scholarships for Native students
Billy Mills, who won Olympic gold in the 10,000-meter run in 1964, was back in Kansas last week to give out scholarships to Native students. Mills was born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, went to the Haskell Indian School in Kansas after being orphaned, and the rest, as they say, is history. But even after his Olympic glory, he faced discrimination. Read about his talks with students in the Kansas City Star.

Gwen Florio

The biggest powwow within the United States, attended by well over 100,000 people and hundreds of tribes from around North America, starts April 22 in its new location at the University of New Mexico’s football field.

As usual, it’ll feature the Miss Indian World pageant, a Trader’s Market, art and musical performances. More than $200,000 in prize money will be awarded. Those who can’t attend can listen online to Gathering of Nations radio 24-7 on the powwow’s Web site.

And, of course, the winner of Powwow Idol’s online drums contest will perform. Check out the groups that have made it this far, and vote for your favorite, on the Powwow Idol Web site.

In the meantime, enjoy the video from last year’s Gathering of Nations Grand Entry.

Gwen Florio

Montana State University student Olivia Main-Stead, who is Gros Ventre, says powwows are among the most important aspects of her life. They affirm, she says, that “no matter what we’ve have been through, we’re still here.”

And women have a huge role in powwows. A program Wednesday at Montana State, in Bozeman, will take a look at that role.

As Reno Charette, director of American Indian Outreach at MSU-Billings, tells Mary Pickett of the Billings Gazette, here: “When your child is out dancing in full regalia, it’s a reflection on the mother. When your child looks like a million bucks, it’s worth it.”

The story serves as a good guide for non-Native on powwows and powwow etiquette. And it has a lot of information about powwow events this week at Montana State.

The program will be at noon Wednesday in the university’s Student Union Building Room 168. Panelists will be Lark Real Bird Paz of the Crow Tribe; Maria Russell, Northern Cheyenne; and Wasewi Shawl, Blackfeet.

The Montana State University American Indian Council Powwow will be Friday and Saturday in the Brick Breeden Field House in Bozeman.

Grand entries will be 6 p.m. on April 2 and noon and 6 p.m. on April 3. A free chili dinner will be served at 4:30 p.m., April 3.

On April 2 during the afternoon, Crow artist Kevin Red Star will sign prints of “Crow Medicine Man and Helper” to raise money for the powwow. The prints, which cost $50, will be on sale.

Gwen Florio