Pow Wow celebrates American Indian cultures March 31

Annual celebration only one within 100 miles of St. Louis

The 22nd annual Pow Wow at Washington University in St. Louis, a festival of American Indian cultures, will be held Saturday, March 31, in the Washington University Athletic Complex Field House.

This event, hosted by the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, is free and open to the public.

Visitors and participants will be able to enjoy dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts and food. Grand entries will take place at noon and 6 p.m. Traditional arts and crafts booths and community information booths open at 10 a.m.

“A Pow Wow is an important event for American Indian culture,” says Sarah Nelson, second-year student, Pow Wow co-chair and member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

“A Pow Wow provides a social gathering for American Indians from all different tribal backgrounds and offers a way to share our culture with the public through song, dance and traditional arts and crafts.”

This year’s theme for the Pow Wow is “The Land Does Not Belong to Us, We Belong to the Land.”

“The theme was chosen to celebrate the environment and the great beauty that surrounds us in nature,” says Lindsay Belone, a Navajo, first-year student and Pow Wow co-chair.

“The theme reminds us of the struggles and strengths we have as native people and land use, as well as how we can use Native American practices and ideology to create a more sustainable environment for future generations,” Belone says.

The Buder Center, the Women’s Society of Washington University, the AMB Foundation, the Student Coordinating Council of the Brown School and the Creek Nation sponsor the Pow Wow.

For more information, call (314) 935-4510 or visit buder.wustl.edu.