Personal Narrative: Pow Wow

On Saturday, I have attended a Pow Wow that was happening at the California State University of Long Beach. I knew what kind of event it was because this was my second time attending one. At the first Pow Wow, I was able to take the opportunity to volunteer for them and helped them out with the resting area for the dancers and other miscellaneous tasks. I also had the chance to walk around and explore what was provided and stayed at the event until the end. It has been over two years since I had gone to the first Pow Wow so I was excited to see once again the beauty and the uniqueness of the Native Americans and their culture. For this Pow Wow, I was able to bring Grandpa and my parents so that they can experience another culture with me
since I was there as an audience. Everyone was excited about the event except for my mom. Long ago before I was born, my dad coincidentally passed by a Pow Wow held in Los Angeles and ultimately made the decision to go in and explore so he somewhat knows about the Pow Wow. We invited Grandpa because we knew that he had no plans and thought that he would enjoy this event for the first time as well. If it wasn’t for the extra credit that was being offered for attending this event, my mom would have had a hard time of letting me go to the event (even though I did volunteer for another Pow Wow). Our family is Christian and from our perspective, we believe that places and events that disagree with God will have spirits that will try to change our beliefs or, in general, conform to the world. That’s why as we were walking, my mom prayed for each of us so that we won’t attract those spirits and be protected by the power of God. They didn’t complain much other than the walking distance from Parking Lot 1 to the location of the event but other than that, they had an interesting time at Pow Wow. When the event started, the master of ceremonies started it off with a prayer and the first word he started with was “Creator.” At first, I was surprised because the way he did it seems like the type of prayer that we do as a Christian. I understand that most religions identify the being they worship as their creator but the way he started praying was really similar to the way Christians prayed. But eventually, as he continued to pray, I realized that he was not praying in terms of Christianity due to the mentioning of the holy drum and the healing that it had for their people. It was intriguing how I could find not only the differences but also some similarities between a prayer as a Christian and from a Native American. We also had the opportunity to see their Gourd Dance.
The holy drum and the people around it began the tempo and started to chant and sing. Then the outer circle which I’m assuming are the dancers who began to shake what it looks like a shaker and goes along with the tempo. During the song, they would eventually stand up from their chairs and start moving around the circle slowly dancing and shaking their shakers. When the song gets louder and stronger the beat, they would stop and lift their heels up as they shake their shakers harder. They were all holding a big feather with their left hand while holding the shaker with their right. They were also wearing a blue-red blanket over their shoulders. What I also noticed was that only the men were able to participate while the women were making the least amount of movements other than their legs or knees. I am not quite sure if this is part of the Gourd Dance, but then I saw that they began to gather close to each other and in front of one elder they began to drop money in front of his feet and said something to him, then started forming a long line next to him. It wasn’t just the dancers but also other people including women began to do the same process. My group and I were confused about why this was happening during a dance, but from what I was listening, it seems like it was to support and to honor that elder. In my Korean culture, just dropping money in front of someone older, then it is disrespectful but for the Native
Americans, that is not disrespecting but part of an offering to an elder. That was what I assumed until they did that whole process the second time and to the same Elder so I was really confused to why they did that. Looking up the Gourd Dance online didn’t talk about much regarding about offering money so it is still a mystery to why they did that and why did they do it twice. Lastly, we walked around the vendors and bought their taco.
Before we ordered food, I saw two types of food they people were ordering. One was called an Indian taco and another one was called a frybread. We ordered two Indian tacos and I personally liked it especially the frybread. This frybread can be a desert as well if you put honey or anything else as if it was a combination of crepe and funnel cake As we walked around the vendors, we saw varieties of items that they were selling including jewelry, instruments, bags, clothes, decorations, accessories, and other miscellaneous items that my dad and Grandpa bought in the end. They both bought a sturdy and well-made slingshot which reminded them of their childhood days in Korea which I did not want to participate at all. I personally wanted to buy some jewelry but it took me too long to decide so, in the end, I lost my chance and had to go back
home. I would definitely go to another Pow Wow but would go with my friends so that I can stay there longer as well as having the chance to have more time looking around the vendors. It’s an event that I would recommend people to visit not just to know more about the Native Americans but experience a new different culture here in California.