Expressing Culture

A small group of men sat around a drum, waiting for the announcer in the center of the Mission gym to give them the go ahead.

“Are you ready?” the announcer asked the crowd. “Drummers, go ahead!”

As soon as the drumming began, the dancers moved slowly onto the floor from the hallway outside. Leading the procession of brightly dressed kids was a color guard made up of three older men and a few high school kids. They led the group in a large circle, rhythmically bouncing to the steady drum beat and chants coming from the far corner of the gym.

Every spring Mission hosts a powwow at the high school and invites neighboring community schools to participate. This year the event brought in kids from Twin Bridges and Frenchtown.

Event coordinator, Geraldine Felix, said she has ran the event for more than 10 years and it started with an interesting request.

“It started with an exchange student that wanted to learn about Salish culture,” said Felix.

As the small powwow continued, different dancers took to the basketball court to show their abilities. It started with the young girls, dressed in traditional shawl and jingle dresses, then moved on to the boys dressed as Fancy Dancers or in traditional regalia.

Lisa Wheeler, a special education teacher at Mission, said teachers have held on to some dresses used in past powwows to let the kids use for future powwows.

“It allows them to participate,” said Wheeler.

Felix was one of the teachers to hold on to dresses and other items the kids could wear. She said that keeping them around gives everyone an opportunity to participate in the dance.

“I’ve been gathering outfits for several years,” said Felix.

The Mission kids also had the opportunity to make traditional chokers and necklaces to wear during the powwow and to practice their dancing.

Kids of all ages participated and showed off their skills to a large crowd.

Felix said that everything that she brings together for the event is made according to tradition and that she wants everyone to get a real feeling of a powwow. She doesn’t want anyone to walk away feeling like they made anything up.

“We try to make everything authentic,” said Felix, beaming as her students kept dancing to the drums.