UWM Powwow Creates Community

Indian community members gathered at the Union Ballroom to celebrate life and ancestors with dancing and singing at the fall UWM powwow.

The grand entrance began at 1 p.m. in the afternoon on a recent Saturday. Songs were song for the veterans and the warriors. Flags were held high, and the marching and dancing was ongoing for hours to respect the fallen, the fighters, the elders, and their ancestors.

“Dance for those who can’t; dance because you can,” says Sky Hopinka, a dancer who has been dancing since he was four-years-old. Hopinka believes the powwow reinforces the Native community, connects everyone spiritually, and carries on tradition and history.

For Joy Maisells and Diane Amour, who are part of UW-Milwaukee’s American Indian Student Service Center (AISS), the powwow is about bringing awareness to the UWM students and community, and for reuniting American Indian alumni.

“It’s a time to express culture and have fun and treat everyone like family,” says Amour. They say that AISS is a place for students to feel like they’re part of a family where there is no discrimination.

“It’s a home away from home,” says Maisells. She also described the history behind the powwow, saying the powwow derives from when Indian men went hunting, fighting battles, or traveling and the tribe would hold a celebration when the men returned home. And so a tradition was created.

Tradition plays a part in the powwow. Sue Koney says, “My mom was an advisor;  her family has been going for 20 some years; my children dance;  I used to dance.” It’s all about getting together and passing down the experience and the tradition for Koney and many others who attend the powwow.

Koney also said that there is much to learn at every powwow she goes to; by looking at the designs people wear on the outfits, each symbol can have a new story or a special meaning to it.

“I love it,” says Koney. “I love getting together with native people in the community.”