The Intertribal Powwow in Oklahoma

Gloria A. Young is the education coordinator at the University Museum of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She has authored numerous works dealing with Plains music and dance and the place of the pan-tribal powwow in plains interaction. This essay originally appeared in Remaining Ourselves: Music and Tribal Memory—Traditional Music in Contemporary Communities, edited by Dayna Bowker Lee, published in 1995 by the State Arts Council of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma powwow is a dynamic intertribal event that is most notable for its continuing changes over time. It changes because it is made up of a large group of people interacting with each other. The changes are brought about by human initiative. Native Americans are the active players in the history of the Oklahoma powwow, not the passive recipients of styles and activities thrust upon them. Because these players come from so many different backgrounds—tribes, clans, regions, cities, rural areas, schools, and churches—they bring their own ideas, their own songs and dress, and their own history to be a part of the Oklahoma intertribal powwow.

The powwow developed out of historical ceremonial dances that were shared among Indian groups, including the Warrior Society dances, the Ghost Dance, the Gift or Smoke dances, and the Drum or Dream Dance. The styles of all these intertribal dances were greatly influenced by the tribal music, dances, customs, and religion of the participants. So today's powwows carry a legacy of spirituality from historic ceremonials, both intertribal and tribal. Part of the unique flavor of the powwow, however, comes from the blending of Native American ceremonialism with Oklahoma history's more raucous celebrations, namely, commercial Indian dances. Commercial dances have been held in Oklahoma since territorial times, sponsored by individuals (both Indian and non—Indian), as well as groups such as tribes, commercial clubs, and fair associations.

COMMERCIAL "POW WOWS" OF THE EARLY 1900S

The term "pow wow" [sic] appeared in Oklahoma Territory in 1902 in an Elk City Record newspaper article: "Cheyennes from the Hammond Agency held a big pow wow here last week. They were returning from a visit to the Darlington Indians and were about 200 in number." When asked for an

explanation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency Superintendent J. Whitewell replied, "They went on request of the merchants and there was no pow wow about it. They simply danced enough times in a circle to satisfy the populace that they had seen an Indian dance." (Whitewell 1902). Perhaps Agent Whitewell understood the term powwow to refer to a meeting such as a tribal council meeting.

"Powwow" was originally an Algonquian word which, according to Roger Williams's seventeenth-century dictionary, referred to curing ceremonies among the New England tribes. (Williams 1827 [1643]). Like the New England words "papoose" and "moccasin," the word "powwow" was quickly adopted into English. By the 1800s it was used widely to mean any gathering at which people were going to be making a decision.

Despite the fact that Agent Whitewell did not consider it a "pow wow," the event described in the newspaper article was something today's powwow-goers would recognize. A large crowd of townspeople paid "their two bits admission." Music was provided by

…nine musicians, each having a small stick about two feet long with a rag wound around the end after the fashion of a swab. They sat in a circle around the big drum and sang and pounded that instrument. An old timer led the music and began his tune very faintly, gradually increasing in volume, the others joining in and [the women] helping out with the chorus. About twenty [men] were gaily dressed with feather and headgear and having strings of sleigh bells around their ankles and about the knees (Whitewell 1902, brackets mine).

This type of public Indian dancing was very popular with the townspeople of the Twin Territories at the beginning of the twentieth century. For example, a large crowd attended a "pow-wow" sponsored by the Collinsville Commercial Club in 1907. Indian agencies had received a letter that read:

Henry Spybuck, chief of the Shawnees, is anxious to hold one of the greatest Pow-wow [sic] ever pulled off between the full-bloods of the Southwest and requests us to ask you to allow a number of Indians under your charge to be his guests during the 16th to 19th of October (Dickinson 1907, brackets mine).

Some agency superintendents shunned the unabashedly commercial affair. It was probably, however, not an original scheme of the Commercial Club, but rather the continuation of an annual fall dance that had been held by Henry Spybuck at his dance ground, less than ten miles from Collinsville, for years. The Commercial Club may simply have offered to sponsor it (or Spybuck may have talked them into it).

Held at "what is commonly known as the Collinsville fairgrounds," the powwow was attended by chiefs Geronimo (Apache), Quanah Parker (Comanche), Lone Wolf (Kiowa), O-lo-co-wa-la (Osage), and Rogers (Cherokee). Besides dancing, the event was to include a carnival, greyhound racing, and a beauty contest. The Collinsville News of October 24, 1907, reported:

The Indians, though not appearing in thousands in number, did credit to themselves in entertaining the visitors who came a long distance to see them. They danced mornings and evenings, showing the old time customs which they seem to enjoy today. The beauty contest failed to materialize. (Collinsville News 1907, pp. 307-310)

Though the Collinsville powwow was well attended by the public, the largest

commercial dance of the time was a private affair put on by the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch near Ponca City for the National Editorial Association. This first Miller Brothers Round-up, on June 11, 1905, was performed before an audience of over 60,000 spectators, the largest crowd ever assembled in the Twin Territories. The "Indian war dance and powwow" portion of the show featured more than 200 Ponca, Oto, Missouria, Tonkawa, Pawnee, Kaw, and Osage dancers (Hanes 1977, pp. 55-56). The Round-up was the beginning of the traveling "Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Show," with which Native American dancers toured for many years.

DANCING AT EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY INDIAN FAIRS

Some commercial dances in the early 1900s were performed at events called Indian Fairs. The 1910 Cheyenne and Arapaho Fair, held at Weatherford, Oklahoma, and cosponsored by the Indian Agencies and the Weatherford Commercial Club, provided for an Indian dance concession charging fifteen cents admission. However, there was also a free "Indian Moon dance in front of the Grandstand the second night with camp fire" (Norris 1910). The Indian School Journal reported:

The last two evenings there are picturesque and artistic reproductions of old Indian dances. These exhibits last for an hour and are well understood by the Indians to be merely representations of the old customs which, therefore, are free from the objections usually urged against Indian dances [by the Indian Agency Superintendents]. These reproductions of native games and dances are witnessed by throngs of spectators, both Indian and white, who crowd the large grandstand to overflowing and thus increase the revenues of the [Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal] fair association…. (Freer n.d., p. 308, brackets mine)

In 1921, there was correspondence between the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the agent at Anadarko over a request from "R.E. Banks and Congressman Gensman" that "a portion of Ft. Sill Military Reservation be turned over to the Interior Department for the Use of the Kiowa and Comanche Indians as a fair ground." The agent was against the idea and noted:

In the vicinity of the place proposed by Mr. Banks … is a resort known as Medicine Park. This resort is right at the foot of Mt. Scott, on a very beautiful stream known as Medicine Creek. Great numbers of persons visit Medicine Park during the spring, summer and fall months, spending their vacations there at the hotel or at small cottages which can be rented from the management. I readily see how an Indian camp and Indian dances would be an added attraction to people visiting this resort, but I do not believe that our Indians should be thus commercialized (Anadarko Agency 1921).

Despite the agent's opposition, a commercial attraction referred to as the Frank Rush Fair was being held near Medicine Park by 1923.

Native American dancers also performed at county fairs. Kiowa Agency superintendent C. V. Stinchecum reported in 1921 that at the Caddo County fair at Anadarko, held during the latter part of September,

… large numbers of Indians came in and camped for several days prior to the opening of the Fair, all during the period thereof, and for sometime thereafter. A group of enterprising Indians built a canvas stockade and held a dance for which they charged admission. This dance was quite liberally patronized by both Indians and whites, as has been the case for a number of years. (Stinchecum 1921)

HOMECOMINGS AND POWWOWS OF THE 1920s AND 1930s

Although not advertised as commercial ventures or performances that charged admission, some of the tribal and all-Indian events of the next decades began to incorporate the more exhibition-like atmosphere of the commercial dances. An event at Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1926 may have been the beginning of the modern powwow era. The occasion was the dedication of the new football stadium. Thousands of persons filled the south wing of the new Haskell Stadium for the program that featured Secretary of the Interior Herman Work, Indian Commissioner Charles H. Burke, and Senator Charles Curtis (of the Kaw tribe). A four-year-old Oto "war dancer," Sugar Brown, was the featured dancer at the ceremony, and the climax was the Haskell-Bucknell football game. Some visiting Indians camped at the "Indian Village," which, according to the newspaper American Indian, was made spectacular by the Blackfeet tipis (American Indian 2, pp. 8-12). The same article also noted that "a caravan of Oklahoma cars from Fords on up took hundreds of Indians to Lawrence." The Quapaws, rich from zinc and lead mine royalties, sponsored some of the events. Many Quapaws remember the caravan of Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Reos, Pierce Arrows, and other large cars that carried them to Lawrence (Young 1981).

Dances were a major part of the Haskell celebration. Daytime was devoted to tribal dances, including an Eagle dance by Potawatomi dancers from Mayetta, Kansas, an Osage Peace Dance, and a Santa Clara Pueblo Eagle Dance. At night there were championship dancing contests. Judges in three world championship contests were Chief Bull Calf (Blackfeet), Chief Bacon Rind (Osage), Pierce St. John (Osage), Victor Griffith (Quapaw), and Chief John Quapaw (Quapaw). According to Frank Turley,

… an intertribal fancy dance contest was held in Lawrence, Kansas. It was then stipulated that the winner's tribe sponsor all future championship contests at an annual date. Since a Ponca named August "Gus" McDonald was named winner, the Poncas … made the contest a traditional feature of their powwow. (Turley 1961, p. 180)

McDonald has also been credited with the introduction of the fancy dance regalia made of brightly colored feathers. He may have used the bright regalia at first when he was acting in the capacity of a powwow clown (Young 1981).

Two years later the Daily Oklahoman newspaper announced that a new dance hall would be dedicated at the 1928 Ponca Powwow. Ponca Agency Superintendent A. R. Snyder explained to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs:

It was agreed that we should build the hall and then make an effort to pay for it. Accordingly work was done and it was dedicated on July 4th by having a little Indian ceremony. The exercises were just the ordinary Indian dances in costume, and a baseball game between the Ponca team and the Pawnee Indian team. At night, about one and one-half hours was [sic] taken up in a program contesting Indian dancing. Prizes of $5.00 for first, $3.00 for second and __BODY__.00 for third were offered. As I remember it, a Ponca boy was awarded first prize, a [sic] Otoe boy second prize and a Kaw boy third prize…. A large crowd was present, and from the proceeds of the stand and admission, about $200.00 was paid on the building. (Snyder 1928)

Two other tribal powwows drew large crowds in 1928. One was the Quapaw Homecoming, a continuation of the Quapaw tribal picnic held at Devil's Promenade, and the other was the Pawnee powwow held at the Pawnee city fairgrounds. The American Indian announced both powwows. It reported that

… a rousing powwow given yearly by the Quapaw Indians of Ottawa County will start June 28…. There will be various kinds of entertainment—baseball games each day, Indian war dances, foot races and contest dancing between different Indian tribes.

Free tables will be set for all visiting Indians—but don't forget your bedding. However, tents will be furnished for those who do not have them. (American Indian 1 [9], p. 13)

A Quapaw man described the Quapaw powwow of the 1930s:

In July we have a four day gathering or powwow. We have plenty of beef and good things to eat and have five tables; … if you love the Indian you will eat from all the tables. They have games through the day such as ball games, cornstalk shooting, etc., and they dance at night. (Valliere 1937)

The Pawnee powwow of 1928 featured afternoon dances of all kinds plus a terrapin derby and baseball game. At night there were war dances, women's dances, gourd dances, and stomp dances by Eastern Indians. As a reporter for the American Indian wrote:

Those in charge of the powwow say that over 3,000 Indians were present and over 300 participated in the ceremonies in some manner. Indians from the Pawnee, Kaw, Otoe, Osage, Ponca, Euche, Iowa, Kiowa, Sac and Fox, Pottawattomie, Comanche, Creek, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and other tribes were present.

The manner in which the Pawnee Indian Junior Council conducted the affair was commendable. The best of order was preserved. The program prepared in advance was carried through each evening. A variety of dances and other forms of entertainment was presented. The committee made preparations to care for the crowd. The visiting Indians went away satisfied and the white spectators were pleased. (American Indian 1[9], p. 13).

FAIRS OF THE 1920s AND 1930s

Powwow-type dancing continued at fairs throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Sac and Fox/Iowa tribal fairs were held (Shawnee Agency 1924), and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Fair was revived in 1925. The 1929 Cheyenne and Arapaho Fair at Watonga included an "Indian maiden contest," an event just becoming popular. In 1926, a princess or queen had been selected at the Pendleton, Oregon, Round-up. Esther Lee Montanic (Cayuse) was the first woman chosen for this honor and was lauded as the "prettiest Indian woman in the nation." California Indians had responded immediately, wishing to enter Little Fawn of the Klamath tribe "against all comers." The Tulsa-based periodical American Indian carried the story and encouraged nomination from "Oklahoma's forty tribes." (American Indian 1, p. 11) In November 1926, the International Petroleum Congress and Exposition in Tulsa had a princess representing the Osage tribe. This may have been the beginning of the selection of Oklahoma tribal and powwow princesses.

The Frank Rush Fair at Medicine Park continued throughout the 1920s. The 1927 fair's Premium Booklet contained information such as "Steve Mopope will have charge of the war dancing…. No so-called '49 or social dance … will be permitted on the grounds…. Frank Rush will give a buffalo to his old Indian friends." Cash prizes were offered for winners of horse races, bow and arrow contests, the wheel game, kickball, and women's shinny. The booklet also stated that "the greatest number of war dancers ever assembled will put on a war dance in front of the grand stand each day," but no mention was made of prizes or dance contests (Rush Fair 1927).

In 1929, however, the Premium Booklet noted, "Special contest war dances and ghost dances will be given each night in front of the grandstand." That year the Oklahoma State Legislature appropriated __BODY__,000 for premiums for the fair (Rush Fair 1929). Perhaps the legislature wanted the Rush Fair to compete favorably with New Mexico's two new Indian fairs, the Gallup Ceremonial, an unabashedly commercial venture, and the Southwest Indian Fair, an arts and crafts exhibition held in Santa Fe.

In 1931, the Rush Fair and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Fair were both replaced by what was to become the largest all-Indian intertribal fair, the American Indian Exposition. Fair Association President Maurice Bedoka wrote to the Anadarko agency about the

manner in which our fair association was formed, and how it operated in connection with the Caddo County Free Fair until last year when it held its own fair separately. All tribes under your jurisdiction—Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Fort Sill Apache, Caddo, Wichita, and Delaware, as well as the Cheyenne and Arapaho of the Concho jurisdiction—constituted the fair association. (Bedoka 1935)

The commercial dances, homecomings, fairs, and powwows of the first half of the twentieth century were the foundation for the Oklahoma-style powwow that swept across the United States and Canada during the 1950s and 1960s. The nature of powwow—interaction between many different people leading to whatever changes were needed to adapt—made the Oklahoma powwow acceptable in any setting. Today, events called powwows continue to change at dizzying speed as people bring new ideas and preferences to the arena. But underneath it all is the solid structure built by Oklahoma Indians interacting in historic intertribal ceremonials and celebrations.

THE INTERTRIBAL POWWOW IN OKLAHOMA

COMMERCIAL "POW WOWS" OF THE EARLY 1900S

DANCING AT EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY INDIAN FAIRS

HOMECOMINGS AND POWWOWS OF THE 1920s AND 1930s

FAIRS OF THE 1920s AND 1930s

BIBLIOGRAPHY