New Mexico Daily Lobo
URL: http://www.dailylobo.com/index.php/article/2010/04/powwow_offers_dancing_music_and_storytelling
Current Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:50:59 -0700
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Shala Williams smiles during a dress rehearsal for the Miss Indian World pageant in the Kiva Auditorium on Thursday. The Gathering of Nations takes place today and Saturday at University Stadium.
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Powwow offers dancing, music and storytelling
Teaching diversity in a classroom is one thing, having the opportunity to experience it in your own backyard is something else entirely.
The Gathering of Nations is the largest powwow in North America, according to the event website, which boasts nearly 50 million visitors. Now, 27 years after they hosted the first event, Gathering of Nations founders Derek, Melonie and Lita Mathews are riding the wave of support.
“Through word-of-mouth is how this became so large. (We are talking) about the great event that it is,” Derek said. “Our family travels 30,000 miles a year to other
powwows and other events to spread the word and distribute information.”
This year’s Gathering of Nations began Thursday and continues through Saturday.
Derek said the first Gathering of Nations powwow was held at the University of Albuquerque, a Catholic college that closed in 1986.
The Gathering of Nations is a nonprofit organization that draws participants from all over the world and solicits performers from many ethnic backgrounds.
Mathews, whose educational background includes a Master of Arts in popular media and ethnic studies, said he encourages anyone and everyone to attend the event, which is at University Stadium this year.
Prize money is awarded to the winners in various competitive categories of traditional dancing and singing. The event also showcases live music and performance entertainment organized by Emergence Productions, a Native-American-run local production company, at Stage 49. The live music and performances include bands, poetry, hip-hop and traditional storytelling.
There is also an Indian Traders Market where participants can sample foods in the Native American food court, Mathews said.
Highlights from years past include a visit from former Vice President Al Gore and members of all pueblos dancing together as one for the second and third time in 500 years, Mathews said.
UNM students are active volunteers and play important roles in making this event successful year after year, Mathews said.
After the powwow, the Mathews family edits a CD from the event to sell at next year’s Gathering of Nations and begins preparations for the future event.
“It is a love of life and has become our life’s work to bring focus to the most positive aspects of Native American culture,” Mathews said. “We have the opportunity to do something in a very special way for other people.”
*For more information visit GatheringOfNations.com, or visit its office in Mesa Vista Hall. *
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8 comments
sam
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Every body come to the POW WOW….
:P
Read more …
have some fun and eat some frybread w/ powered sugar on it..
ayeee..
thomas
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Is it possible for sam to shove his head any farther up his ass? I bet you are a big supporter of “White History Week” because you think it’s about time white folks get recognized like ‘dem other races. You are a sorry and pathetic excuse for a human.
sam
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LOL!
uhhh huh… white his story, yeah..
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uh huh..
:P
and just what do YOU know about “ass shoving” Thomas? R U a queer, or what?
LMAO!
bbl
Crystal
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Sam…I feel bad for you…to think that you were blessed with life and breath and all you can do is spew out ignorant comments. Before you make any negative remarks about others you need to stop and think…about yourself and the shameful representation you are making for your family, your community and your ancestors. You have no pride, but it’s not too late to change and get some. Good luck to you kid! And don’t forget to celebrate National Aboriginal Day…afterall if it weren’t for us, your ancestors would never have survived in North America when they hopped off that big ship 500 years ago, and you would not be here. Learn history before you make an even bigger dam fool of yourself.
pamela
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In would just like to say the very beautiful young lady in the picture is my daughter and she was very proud to represent her community and her nation. It was a very good week for us we loved the whole experience of the gathering, a place where we can all come together and show our pride and in dance and song.
sam
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wow..
i’m stunned, a cheap Indian , calling ME a cheap Indian…
Read more …
dammm… it had to get out…
Just what do YOU know, whats it like to be INDIAN, errr I mean AMERICAN INDIAN…
tell us,,,, crystal, “what tribe are YOU”?
:P
bbl
crystal
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I am from the Mohawk Nation FYI…and I don’t eat frybread with powdered sugar on it, LOL! What do I know about being Indian as you put it? Well sadly, like many of our people, I am impacted by the generational (and continual) effects of historical trauma suffered by our people through colonization and imposed government legislation. But even given that, and knowing that our losses are caused by another race of people, I still do not carry hate within me, and therefore don’t go around making mindless comments about other races and their ‘perceived’ way of life. Also, FYI, the only reason why some of our people do eat that ‘white powdered frybread’ is because the powers that be continue to deplete our natural resources so that we can no longer live off of our land and eat our traditional foods…foods which sure did not include flour and sugar. So, that is what I know about BEING Haudenosaunee along with the fact that it is best demonstrated through thinking good thoughts, saying good words and doing good things. I wish you well on your journey to a higher education.
Anna
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What was Melonie’s role in founding the Gathering of Nation’s Pow-Wow in the early 1980s? What is her age?
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