Western Washington University’s Native American Student Union put on its annual Spring Powwow at Sam Carver Gym on May 15 and 16.
This year's powwow coincided with the opening of the Lhaq'temish-ew'xw e tse XwLemi' – House of Healing, as well as other powwows happening in the area.
“It’s the largest student-led event on campus,” said Frank Miedema, one of the NASU students in charge of planning the event.
Miedema and Emma Smith are two NASU students and council members who worked on coordinating the powwow. This is their fourth and final year as planners. Alongside six other students, they form the NASU powwow planning council, with collaboration from the Tribal Relations Office and the Ethnic Student Center.
The council is in charge of everything from finances to marketing to contracting and hiring. With the help of advisers and Arena Director Merlin Kickingwoman Sr., the council makes sure that all the necessary spaces are reserved, tables and chairs are booked and visiting performers and vendors are paid.
Another job the council is in charge of is fundraising. Planners must make sure that funds properly account for visiting performers and vendors, as well as various raffles and cash prizes aimed at giving back to their communities. This year's powwow featured a cash fundraiser for immigrant rights, which raised more than $700.
“Last year, we fundraised over $40,000 to put (the powwow) on,” Smith said. “We got over 1500 people to attend, and we gave over $20,000 back to people in the native community.”
Because of the amount of time and labor put into planning, the planning council is working on preparations for most of the year.
“Being able to make an event that's worthwhile for them to come to is a very gratifying feeling,” Smith said.
The powwow’s events consisted largely of dance and music competitions, narrated by emcee Mike Sanchez and led by Head Man Stan Whiteman Sr. and Head Woman Karen EagleSpeaker. Performers, dancers and musicians from across the country and Canada came to compete, with visitors from Montana, Oregon and Saskatchewan, Canada.
For this year's powwow, NASU introduced a new event: the hand drum competitions. When members of the planning council saw a hand drum competition taking place at the Gathering of Nations Powwow, one of the largest powwows in North America, they were inspired to include it in planned festivities.
Dance competitions are split by categories of dance and age groups. Competitions also include special events such as the Two-Spirit Special, for performers who are Two-Spirit to take the stage, and the Switch Special, in which men and women performers swap regalia.
Alongside performances, the powwow also featured several Indigenous vendors. NASU collaborated with and invited vendors from across the U.S. and Canada to sell art, jewelry, beadwork, apparel and more.
Owner of Guzhuu Creations, Nzune Gooday, was one of the vendors selling at the powwow. This was Gooday’s first time vending at NASU’s powwow and the first powwow she had attended in a while.
“It was really fun. I like the atmosphere, being surrounded by a bunch of relatives and the Native community,” Gooday said. “It was good to make new friends and meet new people.”
Owner of Pretty Cedar Studio, Leah Gobert, is another vendor who attended. This was Gobert’s first time attending the NASU powwow as well.
“The curation of these events has only gotten better over the years,” Gobert said. “You know the story behind the product you're looking at.”
NASU’s contracted vendors have consisted almost entirely of Indigenous artists and businesses selling original work.
“We have vendors from all across Indian country, not just one tribe,” Gobert said. “I think that's a really powerful thing, connecting with the greater community at hand.”
Miedema and Smith are both proud of the work that was put into the event and the profound effect that it has had on the Native community.
“Getting to see this event that we've put hours and hours of work into actually come alive is amazing,” Miedema said.
Marina Sasaki (she/her) is a current second-year and reporter at The Front. She loves reading, writing and all kinds of art. If she's not cooped up working on projects, she's hanging out with friends and adventuring. You can reach her at marina.thefront@gmail.com.
