Pow-Wow

This past Sunday I decided to attend the Chickahominy's 62nd annual American Indian Pow-Wow. This was not my first time attending a pow-wow but each time I go I become so intrigued and excited I feel like it is completely new to me. When I first arrived, the amount of vehicles I rolled up to was immense! I parked my car and as I turned the engine off I could feel the vibrations of the drums being played for the tribal dancers. As I began opening my door to get out of my vehicle and as I began walking up to the plantation, the closer I got the louder the drums became. I began to hear the chanting of the tribal songs and the sound of the tribal dancers outfits jingling. The smell of sage fills the air and the excitement within me can hardly be contained. Now, I do have Indian blood in me. It is a part of my heritage but I do not look it. My skin is pale, my hair is dark and curly, my eyes are the color of blue. By looking at me you would conclude the fact that I am just an average, typical white twenty-year-old. But as I look into the tribal circle, I saw these women and a few men whom of which lacked the dark skin color, just as I. They were dressed just like the others from head to toe making their way around the circle and dancing in sinc the others. I'm not going to lie, their skin color did make them stick out quite a bit amongst the crowd of dancers but they didn't seem to mind and neither did anyone else. A break for the dancers came and the host of the event came to the microphone. He began to introduce Miss Chickahominy 2013-2014 and as he did so he explained the qualities that are most important and sought out by the tribal counsel when deciding who to crown. He explained that the outer appearance is not of the utmost importance but instead the inside beauty. The knowledge one had of her culture and heritage, how she portrayed it and lived out the legacy of her family members in her every day life and how she chose to share that knowledge and love with others. That, is what they care about. He announced her name and as she walked to the microphone all eyes and attention fell to her. She was medium height, with long black hair that was neatly braded and fell over her shoulder. She, also, was dressed head to toe in a beautiful traditional dancers outfit. She took the microphone to welcome us. She spoke with such clarity and excitement. She was beautiful. Afterwards we all gathered to join the circle to shake her hand and congratulate her and followed her around the circle to show her our support. Shortly, following the dancers re-entered the circle and began their rituals all over. I walked around to get a better look at the singers. At the time there were about five or six singers surrounding one single drum each holding a drum stick. There was always one singer that led each song but the rest would follow behind him. The songs are not of words but instead of different sounds and alliterations. Some sounds are faster some are slower. Some are louder and some are lower. The amazing thing is each singers sounds and beats matched the others. Keep in mind each song was different. Somehow they all had learned each sound by heart and knew the different sounds and drum beats and when to make them! This is truly an amazing culture and I could write about it for hours and although I do not carry the physical attributes I am proud to know this is what helps make up my heritage. If someday the courage within me builds you'll find me in the circle dancing too but until then I encourage everyone to find their heritage and embrace it. Black , white, purple, green, pink I don't care, There is more to each one of us than what meets the eye.