the.com/powwow
a thunder of drum and regalia that survived every law written to kill it
means A powwow is a Native American social gathering centered on drumming, singing, and dancing, often in full regalia — though the word is also used loosely to mean any meeting or huddle to talk things over.
from From the Narragansett powwaw, meaning a spiritual leader or healer — a person of vision. English colonists in early New England heard the word, mistook the man for the meeting, and soon used 'powwow' for the ceremony itself, then for any gathering at all. So the modern boardroom 'let's powwow' carries, unknowing, the ghost of an Algonquian medicine man.
- once banned
- US outlawed Native dances until 1978
- grand entry
- dancers flood in by category and feathers
- drum is heart
- the big drum is treated as a living being
- open circle
- competitive dancers chase real prize money
- borrowed word
- corporate meetings hijacked it from Algonquian healers
gathering of nations powwow — largest powwow in north america, held annually in albuquerque, new mexico since 1989 with 3,000+ dancers
chi-town powwow — chicago's major powwow held at navy pier each labor day weekend, drawing 10,000+ visitors
crow fair powwow — the crow nation's annual powwow in montana since 1904, known as 'tepee capital of the world'