Wigwam Jones

I went to the Chi-Asin Pow Wow, which is held annually at the Showboat Park, in Chesaning, Michigan. Chesaning is a little town which is mainly know for their "Showboat," which is a small paddle-wheel vessel which pulls up to a stage, the performers disembark, and a show is given right then and there. It is a pretty neat concept, a great tradition, and Mrs. Wiggy and I are going to have to try it sometime. More information here:

Wikipedia Description: Showboat
Chesaning Showboat Home Page

Here are a couple of photos:

The Showboat Park itself is a little spit of land that is formed in a basin of the Shiawassee river. This river makes a nice little horseshoe curve around the park, and the town is above and around the river, on a bluff. So you can see the entire park, more or less, from the road overlooking the park. Here's what I mean:

The Showboat Park itself is much larger than just the amphitheater, there is also room for a couple of baseball diamonds and some camp grounds. This is where the Pow Wow was held.

The Pow Wow was held by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and they refer to this Pow Wow as "The Place of our Ancestors."

Wikipedia Entry: Chippewa (Ojibwa)

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Website

I arrived about 12:30, the Grand Entry was scheduled to begin at 1. I found very few guests, even the few small stands that had been set up for attendees was more than enough. The entry fee was $3.

There are a few things you should know if you ever attend a Pow Wow, and I hope that everyone does, because it is fascinating. First, you should follow the rules given by the Indian Tribe hosting the event. It is their Pow Wow, and you should respect their requests. The Grand Entrance is first, and everyone is asked to stand. Men are to remove their hats. There is no photography during the Grand Entrance. I did notice that there was one photographer there, banging away on his digital SLR, he didn't bother to take off his hat or stop using his camera, what a turd. However, he and his wife were asked to leave within ten minutes. So there you go. Be respectful is the key.

The second event is the Veteran's Flag Dance. This is also considered an inappropriate time to take photographs, and guests still remain standing. In most native American cultures, there is a high value placed on serving one's country in the military. Veterans are highly respected, and they are celebrated at all Pow Wows. Many wear evidence of their branch of service made into their regalia. Oh, that's another thing - dancers wear regalia, or an 'outfit'. Please do not refer to it as a 'costume'. Costumes are worn by actors, pretending to be something they are not. Regalia is worn by those who have earned the right to wear it, and it is no more a costume than a military uniform on a serviceman.

I did not take photos during the Veteran's Dance, of course, but here are some of the veterans who kindly gave me permission to take their photos:

Following the Veteran's Dance and the Lady's Dance (also no photographs), the Veteran Leaders plant their colors or their staffs. The staffs are of their tribes, and consist of feathers and other decorations and are passed down from father to son - the oldest there was seven generations old. The colors are flags of their tribes, the state of Michigan, the US and Canadian flags, and the colors of the various military branches represented. I must say that the MC, an Army veteran, took great pleasure in 'forgetting' the Marine Corps until he was 'reminded' by the Marines present. Just a little gentle ribbing, we Jarheads are used to it.

The drums and drummers are all prepared, blessed with smoke, and the drummers and singers take their places. There is a lodge pole in the center of the ring, with a covering over it to keep the sun of the drummers and singers. The dancers move clockwise around this area.

When the Pow Wow begins in earnest, guests are allowed to take photographs, but are requested to ask permission first, which I did, of course. Guests are also told where they can take gifts of tobacco, which are held in the left hand of a pipe holder, who will offer a prayer for the health of the giver, and then burn the tobacco in a sacred fire.

Dancers at this Pow Wow were of several varieties. The traditional dancer is a male dancer, and he wears brightly-colored regalia of his own design, or from a traditional design. He dances to act out feats of bravery, or imitates animals, and he is judged on his fancy and elaborate footwork, spins, and kicks. Some traditional dancers are also Fancy Dancers, and their regalia has many more feathers than usual, and they move with quick, sharp, movements that blind the eye.

There are also Grass Dancers, who perform ritualized high stomping motions, to symbolize stomping down 2-foot-high grass so that a circle could be prepared for elders when a tribe came to a new camping grounds.

The ladies, sadly, wear less brightly-colored garb, much as nature itself often clothes the male of the species in bright colors and reserves the more reserved colors for the females. However, their regalia can be quite interesting itself. Some of the ladies wear a medicine dress, called a "Jingle Dress." The jingle dress has 365 bells sewn into it, one for each day of the year, and each one representing a prayer. There is a Chippewa legend that a young woman was deathly ill, and for four nights in a row, she dreamed of such a dress. She asked her grandmother what it meant, and the grandmother advised her to make such a dress and dance in it. The girl recovered, and thus the legend was born.

Anyway, the Pow Wow was fantastic. I feel that I learned a lot, and I saw something I had never seen before. Everyone was wonderful, patient, and kind. I saw Indians going out of their way to accommodate tourists who 'wanted their picture taken with an Indian'.

I also saw dancers walking around in the crowd, saying hello and introducing themselves, shaking hands, and much to my surprise, picking up trash left behind by tourists and depositing it without comment in the trash bins. During a break, an impromptu dance class was held for tourists, and everyone who attended was given a gift by the tribe for doing so.

If you have never been to a Pow Wow, you should go. The Chesaning Showboat Park is beautiful, and the town of Chesaning is so clean and wonderful and inviting, you halfway think it is some kind of trap - there isn't so much as a candy wrapper blowing around on the streets, the houses are all perfectly restored antiques, the lawns look like they were manicured with a pair of scissors. This Pow Wow is not well-attended, which is good for Tourists at the moment. Make some time and go; it is well worth it. You'll never have spent a better three dollars.

My Flickr Photos are here:

Chi-Asin Pow Wow Flickr Photos

And there is a slideshow of the same photos here:

Flickr Slide-Show

There are 140+ photos, for which I apologize - but I took over 750, this was the best I could do winnowing them out. I have to say - a great number of the ones I didn't put online were still 'keepers' but they were perhaps a tad repetitive, so I hope this one set isn't too boring. Please enjoy.

Smooches,

Wiggy