While Indian tribes first became well distinguished during the civil war, most have become better known since that time. As the cultural and historical aspects of Native Americans are not generally taught in public schools, most individuals learn about this history through various events such as annual gatherings held by different tribes. While Native american pow wows are quite popular, there are several tribes whom have claimed to have hosted the first pow wow.
The primary aspect of the early pow wows were public dances similar to those taking place at pow wows today. These events were a common practice of tribes residing in the Great Plains. As to which tribe held the first pow wow, that continues to remain a mystery. What is known, is that these were trying times for the Native Americans as the United States had already began fragmenting the tribes in an attempt to acquire land for economic growth and development.
While laws were created to limit these celebrations by Native American communities, many tribes continued to gather together to practice cultural aspects of the tribes in secret. As a result, new pow wows began taking place in the Great Lakes region by the 19th century. After which, the celebrations began to spread across the United States with different tribes celebrating and holding pow wows on an annual basis.
Individuals whom plan and organize these events are often tribal leaders and members of sponsoring organizations. For, many of these gatherings are now sponsored by Native American clubs, organizations and communities. Whereas, Native American Studies programs at a number of colleges and universities have also been known to sponsor these events on an ongoing basis, sometimes holding events on campus.
The committee often consists of these tribal leaders along with several individuals whom plan all the events associated with a pow wow. In most cases, if there are sponsors, committee members are selected from the sponsoring organizations. In addition to planning and organizing, the committee is also in charge of hiring staff, training, recruiting vendors, securing a location and publicizing the event.
Staff are the people whom run the gathering on a day to day basis during the event. These individuals are often hired by the committee several months in advance in order to assure staff receives the proper training and that individuals can handle the work load. For, the quality of staff each year can often play an integral role in the attendance at future events.
Most pow wows have an arena director whom is in charge during the event. Sometimes known as a whip man, the whip man is the director's assistant though there are a number of gatherings which do not have a whip man. When this is the case, the arena director often takes on the role of assistant and director.
In the case of events which hold contests, most arena directors ask a different individual to act as head judge. For, it is important that judges have no special bias towards contestants. As such, if the arena director were to know contestants from the local tribe hosting the pow wow, any votes for those individuals could be considered a conflict of interest.
The primary aspect of the early pow wows were public dances similar to those taking place at pow wows today. These events were a common practice of tribes residing in the Great Plains. As to which tribe held the first pow wow, that continues to remain a mystery. What is known, is that these were trying times for the Native Americans as the United States had already began fragmenting the tribes in an attempt to acquire land for economic growth and development.
While laws were created to limit these celebrations by Native American communities, many tribes continued to gather together to practice cultural aspects of the tribes in secret. As a result, new pow wows began taking place in the Great Lakes region by the 19th century. After which, the celebrations began to spread across the United States with different tribes celebrating and holding pow wows on an annual basis.
Individuals whom plan and organize these events are often tribal leaders and members of sponsoring organizations. For, many of these gatherings are now sponsored by Native American clubs, organizations and communities. Whereas, Native American Studies programs at a number of colleges and universities have also been known to sponsor these events on an ongoing basis, sometimes holding events on campus.
The committee often consists of these tribal leaders along with several individuals whom plan all the events associated with a pow wow. In most cases, if there are sponsors, committee members are selected from the sponsoring organizations. In addition to planning and organizing, the committee is also in charge of hiring staff, training, recruiting vendors, securing a location and publicizing the event.
Staff are the people whom run the gathering on a day to day basis during the event. These individuals are often hired by the committee several months in advance in order to assure staff receives the proper training and that individuals can handle the work load. For, the quality of staff each year can often play an integral role in the attendance at future events.
Most pow wows have an arena director whom is in charge during the event. Sometimes known as a whip man, the whip man is the director's assistant though there are a number of gatherings which do not have a whip man. When this is the case, the arena director often takes on the role of assistant and director.
In the case of events which hold contests, most arena directors ask a different individual to act as head judge. For, it is important that judges have no special bias towards contestants. As such, if the arena director were to know contestants from the local tribe hosting the pow wow, any votes for those individuals could be considered a conflict of interest.
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