Pow Wow

I was hoping to get to see a Pow Wow while I was in Cross Lake but I didn’t expect it to be within the first week of being here.

I was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to spend the day at the local arena watching the dancers in full regalia competing in the various dance categories. Sure it would have been nicer outdoors where the scenery would have enhanced the colourful outfits but it was certainly warmer inside.

                        

An Older local gentleman who was sitting nearby was kind enough to explain some of the different dances. My favorites were the Chicken dance and the Rock Dance which are both fast moving dances performed by men.  The dances the women and girls perform are much slower moving and tend to demonstrate their poise and grace.  One of the dances the women do is where they make the fringes on their dresses move as much as possible while moving their bodies as little as possible. Jingle Dancers like the little girl here are covered in bells and the Shawl dancers swirl around in a colourful blur.

Many of the men’s dances are intended to impress the women with one that even has them sneaking up on the women to check them out.

The little guy in the picture here is the same one in a blur of action shown in then next picture.  He was amazing!

I took several hundred pictures during the day but unfortunately many are a total blur.  I’ve posted a few here, but I’ll have many more to show when I return from my adventure.