Pow Wow goes virtual Event will be available to stream this Saturday on Youtube
The Yuba-sutter Winter Pow Wow will go on Saturday – but it’s going to look a bit different.
Pat Bennett, pow wow supervisor and coordinator, said while the event won’t be open to the public in person, anyone will be able to view the Youtube livestream.
The headstaff, drummers and dancers will be at the event.
“They’re going to go through a pow wow as if they were in front of everyone,” Bennett said.
She said Val Shadowhawk, MC of the event, will talk about the event’s structure, what it’s about, what happens and why it’s done during the pow wow.
“I’m going to approach it how I always have,” Shadowhawk said. “We’re expecting a lot of people to tune in … it’s better than not being able to be there, it’s a way to adjust and adapt.”
He said there will be some of the dances that have been included in previous years – such as exhibition dances, gourd dances, social dances and more – along with drumming and more.
The gourd dancers bless the arena, Bennett said, and are followed by the grand entry.
“Dancing and singing and
feasting is part of our way of life,” Shadowhawk said.
A large part of the event, he said, is education.
He said people will hear a lot of stories and information about what happens at the pow wow
– some of which has been handed down by elders.
And it offers “our youth so they have a bit of real history in real time to take with them to the next generation.”
Shadowhawk said during the pow wow he will also be acknowledging the Maidu people.
Bennett said they will also honor the winners of the American Indian Education Program Writing and Drawing Contest.
“It’s a teaching moment for our students and their families and the community,” Bennett said.
The pow wow is sponsored by the American Indian Education Program.
While the Yuba-sutter Winter Pow Wow is not open to the public, anyone will be able to view the livestream on Saturday,
Feb. 20, from noon to 6 p.m. on Youtube at https:// bit.ly/2zm6kab.