The “It’s Time to Pow Wow” event, taking place on tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts auditorium, will be the start of an annual, diverse event on campus.
A pow wow, a Native American tradition, comes with a distinct, yet also fluid definition.
“Some call them a festival, some call them a celebration, some call them enchantments, it depends on who you go to,” said Josh Johnny-John, lead singer of the Old Bridge Singers. “What they are is a chance for people to come together and to celebrate life. The singing and dancing is a big part of this. It’s a social atmosphere to get together to have a good time, make connections and reconnect with families as well.”
Attendees will be able to see this social and beautiful celebration themselves and pass on what they saw to others. It’s a unique experience for those who don’t know a lot about Native history.
“They will gain a lot of history just by seeing this because there’s generations upon generations of knowledge behind each of these dancers and singers,” said Johnny-John. “Even some of the songs have been passed on through generations. They’ll be able to take a small part of the Native culture and history.”
A workshop will also take place during the day of the event for Bonaventure faculty who wish to learn more about the culture and history.
“The first part of the program is a day-long workshop on the Seneca (and generally Native American) culture for the St. Bonaventure faculty,” said Dr. Oleg Bychkov, professor of theology. “With about 15 faculty participants, it’s designed to enhance our understanding of the local Seneca culture and develop some new insights on how to incorporate this information into our teaching curriculum.”
Several professors and lecturers on campus have already incorporated knowledge of the Seneca culture into their classrooms’ lessons, including ethics, American history and Bychkov’s own world mythology class.
“It’s an opportunity for us to share a small part of our culture and heritage with a bunch of new people,” said Johnny-John. “It’s also an opportunity for us to show that we’re still here and still carrying on these traditions despite it being a very modern world. It’s to reestablish a friendship between the Native community, students from Bonaventure and the areas around here.”
Bychkov continues on this, to explain how we should all learn from the Native American society.
“We can learn both from their careful stewardship of nature and management of resources, being able to survive without technology and without polluting and destroying nature,” said Bychkov. “We can also learn from their social organization, which is devoid of law enforcement, military, and other external mechanisms of social oppression, which is basically self-regulated and able to defuse serious conflicts.”
Dancers and singers from different Native tribes from all around the country will be presenting. Those presenting at the event include, but may not be limited to:
Master of Ceremonies, Dennis Bowen, will introduce the songs and dances. He has been the MC for the biggest pow wow in North America, “The Gathering of Nations,” for a number of years.
Flute player Jason Harris is coming all the way from Saskatchewan and has learned a lot about the local Seneca culture. Hoot dancer, smoke dance singer, senior and announcer, Bill Crouse, is well known in the pow-wow world.
Dancers include Sharlene Bonberry from Canada, Whyasty Richardson from New Jersey, Valery Parker and her son Jayden Parker with his girlfriend Hayden, who travel all over the country.
David Smith and Arrow Booth, who are starting to learn about their own people and culture, have become active learners with the Seneca.
Through this event, the Old Bridge Singers hope to establish a base to jump off of towards bringing a pow wow to campus annually. While waiting to return though, the Old Bridge Singers will be having another pow wow in Seneca on the third week of July, with another possible pow wow that same week.
To keep an eye out for local pow wow events going on, or the events of the Old Bridge Singers, powwows.com lists local celebrations in the surrounding states.
Attending this event will be life-long experience for attendees to pass on and a joy to the singers and dancers presenting. Johnny-John puts this sensation in simple terms.
“It’s a really good feeling when people remember something you taught them. If someone remembers this event and tells their grandkid 30 years from now about this event, it’s carrying on what was going on here,” said Johnny-John. “We love what we do. We love who we are.”
By Catherine Fleischhut, Staff Writer
fleisccs18@bonaventure.edu
