Kahnawake was the place to be July 13-14, as the 32nd Echoes of a Proud Nation Pow-Wow danced and drummed its way into the record books with over 20,000 people coming together to celebrate Mohawk traditions. Blistering temperatures over 30 degrees did nothing to discourage the crowds. Iced strawberry juice was in high demand as people eagerly soaked up a spectacular 48-hour event where the sunshine and celebration seemed infinite.
Held on the second weekend of July, the event marks the anniversary of the 1990 Oka Crisis, when the Mohawks stood together to protect their territories. The powwow is a time of sharing stories and dances, of laughter and friendship. It is a time to renew old connections and forge new ones.
Elder and veteran Ray Kaniehtakta Deer took the time to step back and appreciate what was going on.
“It’s such a big attraction. Everybody looks forward to it, in particular the dancers,” said Deer, who dances with his family. “A lot of families are very inspired by their dancers, and there’s just so much support. Most of us aren’t there for the competition; we’re there for the family and community gathering.”
This year, Deer was again honoured as the powwow’s Head Veteran. He shared how the powwow fosters strong bonds for life. “It’s at the powwow that you will see the part of the community that you haven’t seen, where you see the people beyond the community that you’ve met maybe only once, or only at the powwow,” he said. “One day I’m at Walmart thanking my cashier, and then I see them come to our powwow, and now we have a family picture together.”
Describing it as an “extended friendship,” Deer’s definition of powwow comes from years of experience. He started powwow dancing in the late 1980s while stationed in Germany, where he met soldiers from the Sioux and Blackfoot Nations who convinced him to join an upstart powwow exchange group.
“The idea was holding mini powwows at different bases across Europe,” Deer recalled. “It was a way of sharing our different Native cultures with each other while away from our common home of Turtle Island.”
When he returned to the US in September 1991, Deer heard news from Kahnawake – his community had just announced their own powwow. Ever since its debut in 1992, Deer and his wife Sharon have been participating in the event, raising their children and grandchildren in the powwow tradition.
“For a dancer and a veteran, there is no greater honour than being asked to be the Head Veteran or Head Dancer at any powwow,” he said. “Being asked to be the Head Veteran at your hometown powwow? That is not only an honour; it is very humbling.”
With over 90 craft and culture vendors installed in loops leading to the centre dance stage, there was something for everyone. Indian tacos and fresh walleye nuggets were among the biggest hits at the banquet of food vendors, and it seemed like the only people without iced strawberry juice in hand were those in line to get one.
“We just keep seeming to get bigger and bigger every year,” said organizer Lynne Norton. “We let everybody know about it, and now everyone wants to come.”
The excitement was contagious, said returning food vendor Caroline Griffin, cooking traditional delicacies under the name Adrianna’s Den. “We’re treated like someone has thrown down the red carpet for us,” she said as Saturday’s opening lunch rush began.
Making the trip from Ontario each July, Griffin has attended the powwow 22 times, with many happily waiting in line to try her food. “Just up till now from breakfast, I’d say easily a thousand orders and counting,” she added with a laugh. “I do have a little breeze coming in and thank God for that.”
The event was completely sober, and Emcee Gordon Nicotine-Sands emphasized the importance of this protocol.
“It was around this time in 2022 when my son and I had to turn down a big event that we were invited to perform at,” he said. “I discovered that they were going to be serving alcohol at the event, which is understandable, being an upscale production, in our nation’s capital.”
Nicotine-Sands asserted that events where alcohol is served are no place for powwow singing and dancing. “While people are buzzed up and doing drugs, the last thing they should be doing is listening to our music and being around our feathers and plumes.”
It’s the dancing that provides the high. A teenager attending the powwow shared their excitement about smoke dancing. “It’s a medicine,” they said. “If you’re not feeling okay, just listen to it or watch some of the dance, and you’ll feel better.”
As the event concluded, the community’s motto resonated: “Dance until we can’t. One day we will have to hang up our moccasins. But not today.”