Hundreds of people gathered at Dartmouth College’s annual powwow Saturday to reconnect with friends, dance and sing. For many, it was also a time to celebrate a culture they say is too often unrecognized by non-Indigenous people.
Sarah Levesque, a junior at Dartmouth and a member of the Maliseet nation, said that for her, the celebration is a medicine.
“Even if you're not Native and you're coming to enjoy, I think you leave feeling healed in a sense,” she said. “I think that it's a celebration of our culture that we really love to share with the wider community….and I think that even non-Native people will really feel that in their soul when they experience a powwow.”
Saturday’s rain forced the event from its usual spot on the Dartmouth Green into the college’s gym. The weather didn’t dampen the enthusiasm inside, though. Native Americans from across New England danced, played in drum circles, took selfies with friends and sang.
It’s this sense of community that brought junior Lily Aspen to Dartmouth, where she’s a junior. Aspen, a member of the Ninilchik Village Tribe, grew up on the Jersey Shore, where she knew no other Indigenous people. She felt none of that loneliness at the powwow.
“It feels really great, and it feels very accepting and understanding just because you don't have to explain anything to anybody,” she said. “Everybody just gets it.”
This wasn’t Elijah Butler’s first powwow - but it was the first he danced in. Preparing required not just learning the steps but also pulling together the pieces of the regalia he wore.
Butler, a member of Mashantucket Pequot nation , carried an eagle feather fan in one hand and a war club in the other. He attached a red fox to the sash across his chest and wore a headdress of feathers. A polished quahog shell hung from a beaded choker.
“I’m nervous but excited,” Butler said.
He had an eager audience member in Wica-ta-wi Hoksina Brown, a Dartmouth freshman and member of the Oglala Lakota Nation . Brown learned northern dances and drum beats at powwows as a child. He was eager to see the eastern take on the Blanket and War dances.
Saturday’s powwow was a celebration of community for him.
“It’s a place where we're all able to gather together and demonstrate all different cultures,” he said. “It’s more than just bringing your own personal community. It’s bringing the entire Native community together.”
