Keweenaw Bay Indian Community presents Spring Contest Powwow
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) — The Spring Contest Powwow is presented by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community at the Superior Dome.
“We started yesterday at 7pm last night,” said Christine Awonohopay, Powwow Committee President. “We had an amazing turnout, we had close to 800 come through the door last night. Of course, again, it is exceeding our expectations with the turnout. The excitement with it being in the dome has been amazing. Everybody has been pumped, things are going really well. So today we are getting ready to do drum roll call. All the drums will get a chance to let us know that they are here, and ready to go.”
She said all the dancers came in at 1 p.m. for the grand entry. “From there, we start our contest, and we go through some inter-tribals where everybody can come and dance. Then we start our contest with our songs. That is where you will really start to see the different dance styles and everybody’s regalia and what they do at best basically. We just get a chance to see our culture, alive and well. Also, going on we have vendors. About 30 some vendors, craft vendors, selling clothes, crafts, goods, all kinds of stuff. We have two food vendors selling our food here. So, lots to offer today.”
The contest is not only about competing, but also about sharing the culture and learning more.
“So, for us, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, we live in Baraga. Still surprisingly a lot of people do not know about us, do not know we are here,” said Awonohopay. “We have reservation land here; we have tribal members that live in Marquette. We have the university that has Native Study programs. This gives us a chance to share our culture beyond Baraga and let everybody know we are here. We are alive, we are well, we celebrate. You know, we are here to share with everybody. The public is welcome. Come and see what we do.”
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