4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS POWWOW MARCH 24, 2023 Drum circle from the Dance for Mother Earth Powwow in 2018. Images obtained from the U-M Powwow website. 49th Annual Dance for Mother Earth Powwow is March 25-26, 2023 When you know who you are; when your mission is clear and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive! — Chief Seattle, Duwamish (1780-1866) The 49th Annual Dance for Mother Earth Powwow, co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives and the U-M Native American Student Association, will be held on March 25-26 at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. The powwow is a celebration of American Indian culture. The annual event is one of the largest student-run powwows in the country, bringing together over 1,000 Native American singers, dancers and artists from across North America. “People from diverse indigenous nations gather for the purpose of dancing, singing and honoring the traditions of their ancestors,” according to ethnomusicologist Tara Browner. The ritual likely originated from one of the Algonquian nations known as the Northeast Indians. In the past, individual tribes would gather and celebrate by themselves. Today, powwow is intertribal and inclusive. The contemporary powwow is a fusion of different tribal traditions. “The songs and dances performed at 21st-century powwows derive primarily from those practiced by the warrior societies of the Plains Indians,” Browner said, “with the greatest influences coming from the Heluska WILL SHAKESPEARE Groundcover vendor No. 258 Native Americans in its origin, history, growth and success. The annual powwow event is in line with U-M’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mission, which aims to “work to create a university community that reflects the vast, rich heterogeneity of the state and the broader society.” On Sept. 29, 1817, the Treaty of Fort Warrior Society styles common to the Omaha and Ponca peoples.” Powwow in Washtenaw County In 1972, a small group of faculty, staff and graduate students at the University of Michigan initiated the powwow event in Ann Arbor. An energetic group of undergraduates, the Native American Student Association, took charge of planning and publicity for the annual event in 1976. The powwow continues to get bigger and better each year. Local powwows have been held at Huron High School, the Michigan League, the Michigan Union, Cleary College of Ypsilanti, Pioneer High School, Chrisler Arena and Saline Middle School. In 2017, with the help of Eastern Michigan University’s Native American Student Organization, U-M started to hold the powwow at Skyline High School. Land gift to U-M The University of Michigan is tied to Meigs was signed between Michigan’s territorial governor, Lewis Cass, and the native tribes of Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), and Bodewadimi (Potawatomi). These tribes resided in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula at the time of Fort Meigs’ Treaty. A remarkable unraveling in the treaty of 1817 is summarized by the following statement: “In the treaty process, Gov. Cass persuaded the Natives to cede 3,840 acres of land, half of which was earmarked for St. Anne’s Church, and half for ‘a college of Detroit’ in which the natives would be eligible to enroll.” After the treaty was finalized, Judge Augustus Woodward, the Rev. Gabriel Richard and the Rev. John Monteith drafted legislation that founded the University of Michigan in Detroit under the name Catholepistemiad on Aug. 26, 1817. The university moved from Detroit to Ann Arbor in 1837. The land gift to U-M by the tribes was sold and the income investment became the foundation of U-M’s endowment. Groundcover News will be tabling at this year's powwow! Come by to experience and embrace Native American culture in Southeast Michigan through song, dance, cuisine and more!
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