Wunk Sheek showcased a Native-American tradition with its annual powwow Saturday, drawing nearly 1,500 people.
The powwow, a multi-tribe event, drew groups from across the area to showcase Native Veterans, dancers, and drums.
Wunk Sheek’s approximately 30 members raised roughly $20,000 for the event through grants from the Associated Students of Madison, the Multicultural Student Coalition and various other organizations.
Many members said the university was not helpful in planning the event.
“Right now the university is not very friendly about sponsoring it, but it would be nice if they stepped forward,” Derek Jennings, Student Services Coordinator for the American Indian Student Academic Services, said.
“It could be a lot bigger. I have been to colleges where the powwow is sponsored, and the entire arena is filled. Our students are under the gun.”
Native Veterans, who are honored within the community and represent those who have served in the armed forces, led the ceremony.
The ceremony included flags depicting each Native-American nation, as well as the American flag. Dancers, lined up according to age, were also in the ceremony.
Two drumming groups, Tha Tribe and Junior Deadgrass Society, played in the middle of the participants.
Tha Tribe, winners of a Grammy for the Best Native-American Album, features students from Haskell University in Kansas. Junior Deadgrass Society is from the Menominee Nation.
Participants ate the traditional feast of venison stew and wild rice.
“The entire ceremony is very cool,” Starlyn Rose Tourtillott, Wunk Sheek co-chair said. “It is a chance to honor the Veterans, showcase the dancers and see the different regalia.”
Regalia, or traditional dance outfits, are a central focus of the ceremony.
The different styles depend on tribe, family tradition and the individual, Jennings said.
Regalia are elaborately colored and beaded. They may take hours to complete and often have significant meanings.
Arlene Thunder, a junior from Tomah High School, said her pink and silver outfit represented a butterfly.
Jennings said the more contemporary regalia are fancy dancers or fancy shawls, the title for men and women respectively.
Men with a semi-circle of feathers, called a muscle, are straight dancers. They are designated by a roach, which is a long length of material usually made with squirrel fur that travels from their heads down their backs.
Grass dancers have yarn or ribbons, and jingle dress is the term for women with cone-shaped bells on their dance outfit.
UW-Madison currently enrolls 124 Native-American undergraduates out of a Wisconsin population of approximately 65,000.
Aaron Bird Bear, Student Services Coordinator for the American Indian Student Academic Services, said he wishes the university would further recognize the Native-American undergraduate population.
“Other major colleges in America sponsor the powwow entirely and they set aside time to promote it to the community,” Bird Bear said. “If UW-Madison helped us out, they would help make our issues closer to the rest of the community, and give a chance for everyone to come out and celebrate together.”
