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Gathering of Nations brings dancers and drummers from across the globe
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Teen girls wrapped their braids and finished their makeup in small mirrors in rows of chairs at Tingley Coliseum on Friday, preparing to dance at the Gathering of Nations. Grandparents helped their young grandchildren dress in jingle dresses and beaded regalia.
Near the entrance, David Gonzales, 57, assembled his headdress, screwing together pieces, then carefully unwrapped a beaded head roach. Gonzales is Comanche and grew up in Taos. He鈥檚 been dancing since he was 3 but recently started on the powwow circuit. Friday began his fourth powwow.
鈥淚鈥檓 just grateful and honored to be here in the presence of a lot of family and friends,鈥� Gonzales said. 鈥淚 just want to dance and honor my relations and people that can鈥檛 dance. I鈥檓 grateful that I鈥檓 able to do this.鈥�
One level up, 80-year-old Liza Bird was already dressed in her regalia and waiting for the dancing to begin. Bird traveled to Gathering of Nations from Saskatchewan, Canada, with her two daughters, her grandson and great-granddaughter. Bird is Cree, and she came to compete. She dances Northern Traditional in the 70-older age group.
鈥淭he best part of being here is when we鈥檙e done,鈥� Bird said with a laugh. 鈥淲hen we dance, that鈥檚 also ... very exciting.鈥�
Bird didn鈥檛 begin dancing until she was 60, but in 2016 she placed fourth in her category at Gathering of Nations.
Bird鈥檚 daughter Sharon Severight competed in Golden Age Northern Traditional. Severight lives five hours away from her mom in one direction and five hours away from her sister in the other direction.
鈥淪o, when it鈥檚 powwow season, we鈥檙e just really happy to get together,鈥� she said.
Severight started dancing 10 years ago, after her son, Jared Severight, died.
鈥淢y sister used to dance when she was a little girl, and I always had it in my heart to dance, and so it took a while,鈥� Severight said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get to dance until an older age. I had lost my son. He was 19. So, my mom started beading the regalia that I鈥檓 wearing. I鈥檝e just been adding pieces to it, and now it鈥檚 all complete.鈥�
Severight and her sister compete in the same category.
鈥淚 feel complete, because my mom, my sister 鈥� we鈥檙e dancing. It鈥檚 really a good life. As a family, we鈥檙e a lot stronger when we鈥檙e together.鈥�
A drum group debut
Gathering of Nations is one of Jermaine Bell鈥檚 favorite powwows. He gets to meet up with old friends and listen to top-notch drum groups. Bell is Oglala Lakota and Northern Arapahoe, and he used to sing with world champion drum group The Boyz.
鈥淲e went all over the country, including Canada, and we went over to Nova Scotia,鈥� Bell said. But Bell decided it was time to start his own drum collective: Ozuye.
鈥淚t means 鈥榳ar party鈥� in Oglala Lakota,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淢y Indian name is Scout鈥檚 Enemy, and a lot of my family wanted me to use my Indian name. And I didn鈥檛 want to use it because it was kind of personal. Ozuye can mean several different things in our language. It can mean war party or you鈥檙e scouting, you鈥檙e going on a mission to search for something. ... Ozuye is basically that 鈥� we鈥檙e on a mission to scout, we鈥檙e on a mission to sing.鈥�
Ozuye had its debut performance Friday during the grand entry of dancers at the Gathering of Nations. The contemporary drum group sings high and aggressively.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a collective of brothers that are in different tribes,鈥� Bell said.
The collective will spend the summer traveling on the powwow circuit.
The 41st annual Gathering of Nations
Blue corn frybread
At Zina鈥檚 Blue Corn Cafe, the name came before the blue corn frybread recipe.
鈥淥ur name was 鈥楤lue Corn,鈥� and so people always asked us, 鈥楧o you have anything blue corn?鈥欌�� said business owner Zina Crum.
After hearing the request enough times, Crum developed a blue corn frybread recipe with 70% blue cornmeal and 30% flour. Now, the blue corn Navajo taco is the most popular menu item.
鈥淚 like it more so than the regular frybread because it makes it savory. It鈥檚 almost like the blue corn makes your tastebuds awakened, so you almost taste every ingredient in the taco,鈥� Crum said.
The menu also features a Rez dog, which is a pair of hot dogs folded into frybread that can be dressed up with greens or down with ketchup and mustard; and a frybread pizza with marinara, pepperoni and mozzarella.
Crum was inspired to develop the pizza recipe by a cook in North Dakota featured in Indian Country Magazine. She experimented to make her own.
鈥淣ative vendors were saying that when they do powwows, Native Americans sometimes they don鈥檛 want to eat the same because they can make that at home themselves,鈥� Crum said.
Crum has been selling Navajo tacos at the fairgrounds in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 for 21 years, usually during the state fair. But Crum hadn鈥檛 been to a Gathering of Nations for over a decade before she started selling food at the event three years ago.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that all these Natives come here to this event. There were Natives from all over the world. ... It was amazing, and then you meet people like that all day long. The only thing is they don鈥檛 like red or green chile because they鈥檙e not used to it,鈥� Crum said.
