Meskwaki powwow marks 100-year anniversary

In 1923, the United States government sent a letter to the Meskwaki settlement in Tama, informing tribe members Native Americans were prohibited from performing spiritual dances.

For the Meskwaki, also known as the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, that was unacceptable. The community responded by throwing the biggest powwow in recent memory, with plenty of spiritual dances and invitations to their white neighbors to join in the celebrations.

They're still inviting their neighbors today - the 100th anniversary of the annual Meskwaki Indian Powwow will be celebrated Thursday through Aug. 10.

The powwow, a celebration that originated in the tribe's Green Corn Dance festival, has been happening in one form or another for thousands of years, says Johnathan Buffalo, Meskwaki historic preservation director.

'In a way we're still doing our Green Corn Dance. It's a place where we gather as a tribe and enjoy each other's company,” Buffalo says.

He says the powwow helps keep the tribe together, by reaffirming cultural and religious traditions.

'We've had to fight to keep being a tribe,” he says. 'Some tribes are so acculturated, without federal recognition, they would collapse. But we still have that tribal glue.”

Jason Davenport is chairman of the Powwow Association, which starts planning each year's celebration around December. He says the association has been working to increase participation. He estimated they see between 500 and 700 visitors a day, with an additional 350 to 400 people dancing - up from about 200 people dancing four years ago.

'We're just trying to get as many people to attend as possible, just to learn,” he says. 'We want to just get more people educated about Native Americans, about the Meskwaki. People think we're extinct, but we're still here.”

A long history

Buffalo says the powwow's modern history dates to the early 1900s, when tribe members noticed people pulling over on the side of the road to watch the dances during the annual harvest celebration.

'Someone said, ‘Hey, let's charge these people,'” Buffalo says. 'So we had to kind of organize.”

They decided they needed a name that would be recognizable by outsiders unaware of the significance of the Green Corn Dance. Field Days and the Meskwaki fair were both tried out before they settled on powwow.

'It's marketing,” Buffalo says. 'White people already knew the word and associated it with Indians and gatherings.”

He has been participating in the powwow for about 50 years.

'We all remember the powwows of our youth,” he says. 'We remember relatives that are gone.”

The powwow is semireligious, he says, but the spiritual aspects run under the surface of the public performance.

'There are two powwows going on,” he says. 'The Green Corn Dance - the essence - is there. Then there's the part in which we try to explain a little bit about ourselves. We want our neighbors to walk away knowing a little bit about the tribe.”

Maintaining traditions

Conrad Brown, a member of the Powwow Association, agrees.

'We retain our culture, our language, and we're strong in it,” he says. 'We are still here, despite everything that was put in our way. We are still here and we have retained our customs and ceremonies fully intact. During our celebration, we showcase that pride.”

He worries, however, about keeping those customs going in the future. The tribe is losing ties to its language, Wakashan, a dialect of Algonquian. A resource developer for the tribe's language program, Brown says the only fluent speakers today are more than 50 years old.

'We've lost that in the space of one lifetime,” he says. 'Language is what keeps ceremonies alive.”

It also facilitates communication across boundaries. Other dialects of Algonquian are spoken by tribes across the United States and into Mexico. Members of many of those tribes travel to Tama to participate in the powwow.

Though elders from the Mexican tribes may not speak English, and the Meskwaki elders may not speak Spanish, they can still communicate in Algonquian, Brown says.

'It's a homecoming not only for our tribe but for our allies,” he says.

He hopes younger generations can retain their pride in Meskwaki culture and the powwow helps facilitate that.

'It's not only for the public,” he says. 'It's for ourselves too.”

IF YOU GO

'What

: 100th annual Meskwaki Powwow

'When

: 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday through Aug. 10

'Where

: Behind the Meskwaki Casino, 1504 305th St., Tama

'Cost

: $3 to $7

'Information

: Meskwakipowwow.com