Everywhere they are dancing. From Oklahoma City's huge Red Earth
celebration to fund-raising events at local high schools, powwows
are a vital element of contemporary Indian life on the Southern
Plains. Some see it as tradition, handed down through the
generations. Others say it's been sullied by white participation
and robbed of its spiritual
significance. But, during the past half century, the powwow has
become one of the most popular and visible expressions of the
dynamic cultural forces at work in Indian country today.
Clyde Ellis has written the first comprehensive history of
Southern Plains powwow culture-an interdisciplinary, highly
collaborative ethnography based on more than two decades of
participation in powwows. In seeking to determine what "powwow
people" mean by so designating themselves, he addresses how the
powwow and its role in contemporary Indian identity have changed
over time--along with its songs and dances--and how Indians for
nearly a century have used dance to define themselves within their
communities.
"A Dancing People" shows that, whether understood as an
intertribal or tribally specific event, dancing often satisfies
needs and obligations that are not met in other ways--and that many
Southern Plains Indians organize their lives around dancing and the
continuity of culture that it represents. As one Kiowa elder
explained, "When I go to these dances], I'm right where those old
people were. Singing those songs, dancing where they danced. And my
children and grandchildren, they've learned these ways, too,
because it's good, it's powerful."
Ellis tells us not only why and how Southern Plains powwow
culture originated, but also something about what it means. He
explores powwow's cultural and historical roots, tracing
suppression by government advocates of assimilation, Indian
resistance movements, internal tribal disputes, and the emergence
of powerful song and dance traditions. He also includes a series of
conversations and interviews with powwow people in which they
comment on why they go to dances and what the dances mean to them
as Indian people.
An insightful study of performance, ritual, and culture, "A
Dancing People" also makes an important statement about the search
for identity among Native Americans today.
General
Imprint: |
University Press of Kansas
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 2003 |
First published: |
October 2003 |
Authors: |
Clyde Ellis
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156 x 14mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
232 |
Edition: |
New edition |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-7006-1494-3 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
General
|
LSN: |
0-7006-1494-X |
Barcode: |
9780700614943 |
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