By Debbie Robinson
drobinson@joplinglobe.com
QUAPAW, Okla. — Hundreds of visitors watched brightly-colored dancers and listened to songs of the “O-Gah-Pah” people — the downstream people — as the Quapaw tribe began its three-day powwow. The name “Quapaw” is a derivative of “O-Gah-Pah.”
The tribe has held the annual event, which began Friday night, for 136 years. The powwow continued with a gourd dance Saturday followed by other dance contests, such as teen grass, men’s traditional and men’s fancy dance.
This year’s event was held on tribal grounds southeast of Quapaw and occurred as the tribe was opening its casino near the state line.
Betty Harris, of Joplin, attended the powwow for her second time. She first came 40 years ago, when she taught school in Shawnee Mission, Kan.
“It’s huge, and it’s beautiful,” Harris said.
Forty years ago, she and another teacher who attended the powwow sat on bleachers all night and watched the dancers.
Her interest in powwows, she said, started when she lived in Colorado and was involved in a Mountain Man rendezvous.
“I have an elk dress, and I started making beads after studying the tribe,” she said.
Harris also said she was attracted by the pageantry of the powwow.
“It’s beautiful and you learn a lot,” she said.
Eight-year-old Zach Wahweotten, of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, said he has been dancing since he was two.
“It’s fun,” he said.
Zach’s mother, Angie, said her son was entered in the junior fancy division.
He began dancing with the grass dance and now competes in the fancy dance, an energetic and flashy dance.
“It’s very athletic,” she added.
The grass dance, Angie said, replicates grass blowing in the breeze.
Zach’s ceremonial dress included double feather bustles on the upper and lower part of his back. Orange and red were the predominant colors of his native dress.
“We just wanted fire colors for him,” Angie said.
The highlight for many of the visitors was the grand entry, when about 100 dancers from the very young to the elderly entered the arena and danced in a circle while singers sat in a circle in the middle of the arena with a large drum. The singers, “The Smoky Hill Drum,” traveled from the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota for the festivities.
Legacy and history
In a statement, John Berry, tribal chairman, said the annual Quapaw powwow provides the opportunity to rekindle memories and to celebrate the legacy and history of the O-Gah-Pah people. The Quapaw powwow is the longest continuous dance of its kind in the country, Berry said.
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Quapaw tribe celebrates history with powwow
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