by Cindy Ross
A drumbeat runs through the Chippewa Wild Rice Powwow, connecting visitors to both past and present
The drumbeat vibrates through the crowd like the pulse of a gigantic heart. The Chippewa drummers sit in a circle, pounding their drumsticks. They sing, they chant, they call. Men and women, elders and youngsters, dressed in buckskin, feathers, blankets, beads, furs, and fancy shawls with fringes rise slowly. One by one they start to dance, first the elders, then the rest of the spectators.
Welcome to the annual Wild Rice Powwow, which celebrates the harvest of wild rice—sacred to the Chippewa (or Ojibwe, as they were originally called)—in the northern lakes of Wisconsin. The powwow is held each year on the last weekend in August at the St. Croix-owned Hole in the Wall Casino and Hotel in Danbury.
Drummers, singers, and dancers travel from around the country to attend the powwow. Last year’s event featured more than 30 different drum groups, and was attended by 2,000 visitors.
Like most powwows, this one begins with a grand entry, a procession of dancers in their regalia. (Dancers don’t refer to costumes, a word that suggests a kind of false or put-on reality.) Each style of dancing has its own regalia. Traditional dancers might wear feather bustles, porcupine-quill or deer-hair roaches (headpieces), and beaded moccasins; their movements tell stories of events or imitate birds and other animals. Fancy feather dancers wear dresses with eagle and chicken feathers sewn onto them; they spin and jump using bold steps and complex routines. Women jingle dancers wear cloth dresses sewn with hundreds of tin jingles.
Dancing takes place in the Zaa-Maadj Arena, named after a much-loved female tribal elder. To the uninitiated eye, many of the dances may look alike, but each style has its own steps and variations, and they’re all fun to watch. Between dances the powwow’s master of ceremonies explains events, makes announcements, and tells jokes, sometimes in the Ojibwe language.
Most of the weekend’s socializing takes place around the arena, where you can snack on fry bread, Navajo tacos, and wild rice soup, and shop for Native American crafts, books, clothes, and drums.
“When you hear those drums, it is the Mother’s heartbeat,” says Wanda McFaggen, a historian for the St. Croix Chippewa. “Children sleep through the drumming at a powwow because it’s so comforting.”
If You Go
There are more than a dozen powwows held in Wisconsin each year, most between July and December. Visit drumhop.com for a complete listing.
Powwow Etiquette
The powwow is open to the public, but visitors should observe these basic ground rules:
• Never cut across the dancing arena, which is considered a sacred space.
• Avoid profanity.
• Photography is allowed only with the permission of individual dancers and/or the master of ceremonies.
• No alcohol or drugs are allowed; most powwows prohibit smoking near the arena.