Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mickey Goes to Pow Wow

This one takes me back to a pow wow in St. Ignace, Michigan where I first heard it; a sunny, warm September day a dozen years ago; standing next to the drum under the cedar arbor; surrounded by the blue waters of the Straits of Mackinaw - Ojibwa country. If you've never been to a pow wow, get yerself there. If you've never stood next to the drum and felt it pound its rhythm into your body - go stand next to it. If you've never seen an Indian child dance, you've missed a chance to smile deep.

Go. Eat good food. See good sights. Feel good music. Dance. Everyone is welcome. Step into another world; a world of tradition that is still strong today. You'll be glad you did. In fact, how did you ever get to be this old and never have gone to a pow wow? Go! Get yerself there. Take the kids. Take Grandma and Grandpa. There's room and respect for everyone. Have fun -- tell 'em Indigenous Mickey sent ya. (listen closely - One of the Best Cultural Appropriations in reverse)



for more info on pow wows: www.powwows.com

4 comments:

Sandi said...

Well, that made me smile deep! I live near the Cahokia Mounds, where several tribes congregate annually. I have been to the powwow and I have been transported...out of place, out of time, out of self. But I did not stand next to the drum. Next time, for sure.

el poquito said...

Cahokia! A place I've always wanted to visit. A mexica elder of mine has visited there and told me about the similarities between Cahokia and Teotihuacan - north of Mexico City where the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon are. He says they were built by the same peoples and is further evidence of a unified land, a unified people reaching far back before borders were arbitrarily drawn.

My family for instance: one day they were Mexican citizens - and after the Mexican-American war and the Treaty of Hidalgo, became US citizens - all without crossing a border. The border crossed them in the arbitrary way that borders are prone to.

And long before that, some of the same people who built Teotihuacan, their relatives were perhaps building Cahokia.

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Yeah, next time go stand next to the drum. Don't be shy. Done respectfully, it's very much allowed.

Anonymous said...

It will be a while before I go to another Pow-Wow. not so may here in Den Helder. Go with me in your heart.

el poquito said...

Hey Buddy!

Nice to see you drop by. And of course - how can we go to pow wow and not have you in mind? This one's going to be an interesting one coming up as the organizers have said, 'no thank you" to $ and sponsorship and 'no thank you' to the university for exploiting the native community and simultaneously using the photo op of the pow wow as the university photo of diversity. Michigamua is not forgotten. Remains still need to be returned and the pow wow committee has disassociated itself with university sponsorship.

And the politics unfold....

You'd find it interesting.

Love ya Popeye! (surround yourself with that)

el