Annual Pow-wow to celebrate Native American culture

The East Carolina Native American Organization is set to hold its 23rd Annual Pow-Wow, an event used to promote Native American culture and preserve the rich heritage of American Indians.

Keeping up with tradition, ECNAO organizes the pow wow held every spring semester to be a showcase of Native American cultures, food, traditions and dances.

The event will take place at 11 a.m. in Minges Coliseum on Saturday and is opened to the public, free of charge.

ECNAO is made up of students who come from diverse backgrounds and is open to all students. As an organization, it strives to promote Native american culture. The pow wow serves as a an educational piece to the university and the entire community while also providing people with the opportunity to socialize.  

“It’s been going on for 23 years, we want to continue to do this to educate others,” said Aleshia Hunt, co-advisor of ECNAO and an ECU alumna. “Historically, a powwow is a celebration. You get together, you have music and you have dancing.”

ECNAO’s pow wow’s feature dancers wearing authentic Regalia, vibrant unique clothing, as they do traditional dances to the beat of the drums from a northern and southern host chosen for the event. It has been confirmed that the Blue Moon Singers and Red Oak Singers, are set to play the drums at this years event.

Different tribes from Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina commute to attend the event and vendors sell jewelry, crafts and food.

“[The Powwow] has grown, and we are continuously getting more and more support from the University,” said Hunt. “From when I was a student, [attendance has] grown from a hundred people to several thousand people.”

The event is always held in the spring, the time when ECU does a lot of it’s recruitment, and helps the university connect with the Native American community. ECU currently has over 400 Native American students.

“Many of our alumni come back and they now bring their families,” said Hunt.  “It has become a generational event.”

Minges is the new venue for the pow wow this year.

“Last years pow wow was supposed to be outside at the bottom of college hill and it was 50 degrees and pouring rain,” said Hunt. “We got moved to Mendenhall and it was overpacked.”

Minges was chosen as the event’s new location to combat the possibility of bad weather and to also fit the events many attendants.

Students should not be afraid to experience the pow pow, stated Randy Gilliand, the other co-advisor for ECNAO.

“I feel a lot of students feel that they’re going to be offensive in some way and thats far from the truth,” said Gilliand.

Gilliand also said the pow wow is a good event for anyone to attend, “it really just barely scratches the surface but you do really get a feel for the culture.”