There are only 89 self-identified Native American students at
UCLA ““ but that hasn’t stopped them from having a
presence on campus and educating the community about their cultural
heritage.
The 20th-annual Pow Wow is taking place on May 21 and 22 on the
North Athletic Field. The event is open to the public and aims to
educate both the campus and outside community about Native American
culture. It has become one of the largest student organization
events on the UCLA campus.
The first Pow Wow originated in 1976 when the American Indian
Student Association noticed how Native American students were
feeling isolated from the rest of the UCLA community and were
dropping out of school. They started a cultural week, which
included a pow wow, to make the Native American students more
comfortable at UCLA.
Theresa Stewart, the president of AISA and a Pow Wow director,
feels that the Pow Wow allows Native Americans from not only UCLA
but from around the country, to gather as a people and celebrate
their heritage.
“It’s an opportunity to gather as one and observe
our culture and spirituality through music and dance,”
Stewart said. “It allows us to reclaim our Native
identity.”
The Pow Wow lasts two days, with the first and second rounds of
the drumming and dancing contests held on the first day and the
finals on the second day. Tribes from across the United States,
Canada and Mexico participate in AISA’s Pow Wow, which is a
well-known and respected Pow Wow throughout the country.
Both the drumming and dancing contests are held at the same
time, with different judges concentrating on either the dancing or
drumming aspect. The drums are extremely important in a Pow Wow
because they are considered the heartbeat of the earth.
“The drum is the most important thing in the life of
Native Americans because it is said to connect the people with the
spirit of Mother Nature,” Stewart said. “Without
singers or the rhythm of the drum beat, there would be no
dances.”
A drum consists of six to 16 people who sing songs from their
area. Songs can range from traditional intertribal songs to war and
conquest songs to memorial songs. Each drum has a head singer,
which is an honored position because he leads the drum into songs.
He starts the drum and ends it. Songs are sung four times because
the number four is sacred in Native American tradition.
The songs usually have no words, just melodies.
“Most songs are sung in vocables, which are syllables that
carry the melody and the meaning of the song,” Stewart
said.
There are also two main styles of drumming and singing: the
Northern and Southern style.
“The Northern style is sung in a higher-pitched voice than
the South and is a bit more experimental than the traditional
Southern style,” Stewart said.
The physical drum is made from a wooden shell covered in rawhide
leather on both the top and bottom. The leather is then stretched
tightly around the drum. Some drums are painted depending on the
tribe.
Judges evaluate the drum competition on four categories: how
many singers are in the group, the quality of song by the lead
singer, the singing by the rest of the drum, and the overall
quality of each drum. The judges consist of the head judge who is
usually a representative from the Pow Wow circuit, and a
representative from both the Northern and Southern drum to
correspond to the two different styles.
“Drums are really sacred objects to each individual
tribe,” Stewart said. “In some tribes, drums can be as
old as 100 years and represent different things such as a
woman’s womb, and is always given the utmost respect of the
tribe.”