Students celebrate culture
Karen Peterson
Jingle dresses
Karen Peterson
Micalee Gardipe dances for the crowd.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Jack Rodeghiero dances among the male powwow dancers.
Karen Peterson
Johnny Arlee plays a drum with his group.
Karen Peterson
Sydney Castor and Nick Durglo compete together in the orange dance.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
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ST. IGNATIUS – Young visitors watched the jingle dresses in fascination during the Mission School Powwow on Friday.
“It’s really cool,” said Frenchtown Elementary School student Lakin Alaniz, 8. “I’ve never seen this before.”
Tyler Stenerson, 7, also of Frenchtown, had a similar sentiment.
“How they dance is so cool,” he said adding that the grass dancers and the chicken dancers and all the dancers were “really great.”
About 100 second-grade Frenchtown students traveled to the Mission School District to watch and participate in the annual powwow.
“It’s very special for us to get to see a real round dance,” said Frenchtown teacher Lane Long.
The Mission students have invited many people to share in their day of cultural awareness over the years. The powwow began a little less than a dozen years ago after a group of foreign exchange students wanted to know more about powwows.
“We started this as a way of sharing our culture,” said Native American Studies teacher Geraldine Felix.
The first school powwow had a few dancers, but now, it has grown to include hundreds of dancers and four big drum groups.
The school’s senior class led the grand entry along with tribal elders. Emcee Ben Corral explained the history behind each dance and student regalia to the visitors while the event continued for several hours.
“We do this to honor all people, all races of all colors,” he said.
Before the event got started, Salish traditional leader Johnny Arlee spoke a few words in the morning to a gym full of students. He talked about the importance of education for young people throughout history.
“It was important to learn and become a leader,” he said of his culture, adding that each lesson was marked by an eagle feather or another symbol much like a diploma is used during graduation ceremonies.
He finished his speech by talking about the importance of keeping the culture alive for future generations, which includes sharing culture.
