2010 Odawa Homecoming Pow Wow — Page 2

 

I mentioned the elders tent on page one.  If you have not picked up on it from some of the images so far, let me share with you that it was indeed a "Winnie the Pooh" blustery kind of day.  Every so often a wind gust would lift somebody's tent up just enough to inspire them to quickly grab it and secure it a little better.  However, the elders tent did not fare as well.  Apparently, after a few mishaps they decided it could not be properly secured because they started dismantling it around a quarter to two that afternoon.  The elders joined us in the visitors area, which as it turned out, being right next to the announcer's building, was quite adequately anchored to a telephone pole. 

 

 
     
 

 

The removal of the tent was completed, and the elders got settled in with us (above left), without any significant interruption of the dancing.  But the wind continued to blow and gust, as several of the pictures will attest to. 

 

 
       
 
     
 
       
 
       
 
       
   
     
   
       
 
       
   
     
   
       
 
       
   
       
 

 

One of the dances I had never seen before is essentially a follow the leaders dance.  The announcer explained that people should come out in pairs forming a line and simply do whatever the lead male and female dancers did. 

 

 
     
   
     

The couple in the below right photo got their picture included because he is wearing a Michigan State University Spartans shirt.  The extent of my loyal to my alma mater waxes and wanes, but it has nothing to do with whether they are winning or losing during football and/or basketball seasons.  This actually relates to a reflection on the next page concerning a general struggle to find balance in my involvement with our sports/warrior culture. 

       
   
 

Spectators are not the only ones taking pictures at a pow wow (below right)   In fact, the now common feature of cell phones including a built-in camera has added a whole new dynamic to photography everywhere, and pow wows are no exception.  I thought I was positioned in quite the exceptional spot for photo taking until I saw the vast numbers of dancing relatives and friends using the arena entrance as a place from which to use their camera phones to take pictures of their children and other fellow dancers.  I spent a large portion of the day shooting around, between, and over people standing there.  Also, I had to smile that things are pretty much the same wherever you go, with the young lady (below left) spending a good deal of her time . . . (I am guessing) texting? 

 
 

 

 

 
     

Actually, cameras abound in every form.  If you look closely, three of the above pictures have cameras showing in them.  While ever so slightly out of sequence, they were taken within four minutes of one another.  I grouped them here precisely because of having mentioned cameras above.  For the most part though, images are being presented in these pages roughly in the order in which they were taken.  Sometimes a random shot is by-passed for later use, in order for groupings to relate to one another.  And occasionally, the clustering of vertical and horizontal pictures just does not work out with what I have available, so I simply keep the photos as close sequentially as I can. 

 

continued on the next page