Over the weekend the Painted Hand Casino 10th annual Pow Wow took place at the Gallagher Center.
The Pow Wow season runs from June through September with a different Pow Wow happening somewhere every weekend. Pow Wows take place all across North America, but the highest concentration of Pow Wows is right here in Saskatchewan.
The Painted Hand Casino Pow Wow is a competition style Pow Wow with dancers divided into groups based on gender, age, and style of dance. The Pow Wow also allowed for group dance competitions and a drum competition. Each separate category gave the competitors a chance to win generous cash prizes.
Painted Hand Casino Operations Manager Ernest Standingready, says the Pow Wow is about "giving back to the community" and preserving the "traditional ways" of the First Nations people.
Standingready pointed out that, "a lot of First Nations live in cities" and they can't travel on a regular basis. Pows Wow allow a chance for those a great distance away to visit, while "the local folk can come back and enjoy the Pow Wow". As Standingready stated Pow Wows allow people to "make a relationship with First Nations People," and to learn about the culture.
Peace time war veteran Roy Alexson feels that Pow Wows are "regenerating," especially then they are the "beginning of a new Pow Wow season." For Alexson Pow Wows are a "continuation and maintenance of our culture," and that they provide "awareness for the community and younger generations." Alexson feels they allow for a "first hand view for our younger generation of what life was like."
This years event featured vendors of both traditional and modern lifestyle. There were multiple groups entered in the drum competition, as well as in all the dance competitions. The event was very well attended and over 400 dancers took part in the weekend.
