Richmond community gathers to honor Native American culture

By Callie Shanafelt with photos by Heather Gilligan

The wind whipped the feathers on ceremonial headdresses and sent spectators huddling under blankets during Richmond’s first powwow last Saturday. But that didn’t dampen the spirits of dancers and musicians who gathered to celebrate with ancient rituals at the tip of Lucertia Edward Park.

A powwow is an inter-tribal gathering of people who come together to share and honor their cultures and dance for their ancestors or those who can’t dance for themselves, explained master of ceremonies Tom Phillips.

Dancers and singers represented tribes including Kiowa, Lakota, Blackfoot and Navajo. They gathered in ceremonial dress in a blocked-off dance arena that was blessed before the powwow began. A circle of the All Nations drummers accompanied the dancing. After the arena was blessed it was considered a sacred space--only to step foot in to dance or honor the ancestors.  

Around noon, the majority of dancers entered the arena behind three men bearing the flags of the United States, the State of California and POW-MIA, to a flag song. Drummers played songs from different regions throughout the day; dancers changed their styles accordingly. The powwow lasted into the evening.

Others came to promote causes. Wesley Conner, a member of the Ojibwe tribe, speaks eight languages and is starting the Center for Endangered Languages in Berkeley. He says he’s figured out how to save a language and create learning materials to teach the language to people in one year. He works with developers and programmers to develop kid-friendly multimedia presentations, which are already in use in Richmond. Wounded Knee DeOcampo was at the powwow to protest the development of a park on the Glen Cove burial site in Vallejo. 

Non-natives also participated in the powwow, including Richmond's mayor, Gayle McLaughlin, and Richmond Chief of Police Chris Magnus. 

To hear sounds from the powwow, listen to the audio montage above, and see accompanying images on the slideshow, top right.