With Native American Heritage Month beginning in only a few days, it seems only appropriate that the Wilkes Programming Board recently sponsored a pow wow for all members of the campus community.
To celebrate this and educate students about this important month, Programming board worked with the university to invite Larry Yazzie, a Native American dancer and storyteller, to share traditional dances from his culture. He grew up on the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama, Iowa, where he learned the traditional ways of his ancestors.
The night began with Yazzie talking about his history with this art and his love for traveling to teach others.
“When I was in third grade, we had an assembly at our school,” Yazzie said. “I was very intrigued by the performance, and something inside me said, ‘I want to do that too.’ So, at 7 years old, I started dancing.”
Yazzie went on to explain the traditions behind both of the dances he performed: The Eagle Dance and the Fancy War Dance. The Eagle Dance was a way to honor the eagle, which is a sacred bird to Native Americans, while the Fancy Dance (or Fancy War Dance) was used as a high-energy dance to ask their gods to protect them in war.
“My favorite part of the event was definitely the Fancy Dance,” said Camila Amaya, a sophomore who attended the event. “It had a lot of energy, and it was really cool to see him so engaged in it.”
But the dances weren’t the only things that caught people’s attention. The dances each came with special costume-type pieces that took Yazzie some time to put on.
For the Eagle Dance, Yazzi was covered head to toe in eagle feathers. During the Fancy War Dance, he adorned these pieces called “bustles” made from different types of feathers from various birds.
“Each of the pieces on me, one artist made the feather work,” he said. “He can make an arm bustle in just one day.”
The arm bustle is very small compared to the others, but it displays a lot of creativity and colors in the intricate design.
However, these dances were not the only ones that were performed. After he performed his two dances, Yazzie called on audience members to come up and dance onstage with him. Afterward, he had the whole audience stand up, join hands and dance around the perimeter of the JPAC.
Pow Wow attendee and first year student, Katelyn Helmer said, “The big group dance we all did was a lot of fun.”
Yazzie explained that once the circle was joined together, it would bring everyone in the room together as one. It brought many out of their comfort zones and gave them a chance to laugh and just have fun.
To learn more about this culture or see where Larry Yazzie performs next, visit his Instagram page @native_pride_ productions.