Closed Captions

June Stewart, a Nez Perce elder from the Lewiston area, explains the historical and spiritual significance of powwows, including vision quests, warrior medicine, and the sacred eagle feather. She describes traditional dances—fancy dancing and jingle dress dancing—and demonstrates with her granddaughter Marel. Stewart discusses how powwows bring communities together and emphasizes the rules, respect, and healing that accompany these ceremonies.

Transcript

0:04 just hands not voices put your hands up not your voices excellent some of you have well today you're going to get a taste of a powow cuz here in the tent of many voices we invite presenters from all over the country and your community to do presentations for you on something related to the Louis and Clark expedition in the cultures and peoples they met along the way well with us
0:28 today is Mrs June Stewart she's here to share with you some NES Pur history and her granddaughter marel she's 9 years old she's done her own bead work so you'll see these beautiful mirrors and this little 9-year-old did all her bead work so let's welcome Mrs June Stewart and her granddaughter
0:51 [Applause] Marquel okay my name is June Stewart I an eser Indian from here in the lway area uh this is my granddaughter her name is
1:14 marel sha and she'll be demonstrating two types of dances for you uh when I found out I was going to come up here and talk to you folks I really didn't know what to talk about but being the grades you were in I thought giving you a little update as to what a power is a long time ago when our people had
1:38 special ceremonies they would dance and they would have their special uh prayer before they went out to hunt before they went out in a war party before they went hunting everything they did they had special ceremonies as special uh medicines like like for instance my
2:01 great-grandfather his name was pilot class he's wakin in our langu means power when they went to seek their Vision Quest they would go up to a mountain and they would stay there for two or 3 days and they would fast and the first uh item maybe a clouds maybe deer or elk that approached them that
2:24 would be their W and that would be their power or their protector and a lot of pictures that you see you'll see bear claws you'll see them carrying a bird head and so forth that represents their power or their protector and my great-grandfather chief pilot clouds he's uh Power was the clouds I'm going
2:47 to tell you a story before we go into the the dancing he was a great Medicine Man and as he went out to go into war with the Enemy and dur during those days they had inner tribal and uh inner tribal battles do you know what inner tribal means you inner tribal means the
3:09 different tribes throughout Washington Oregon and Idaho and they always had battles between one another because of horses because the more horses the the natives own this wealth to them just like the non-indians the more gold they found or had this wealth to them well as these people went out and they uh had
3:33 gone into battles with one another over horses a lot of them were stealing women cuz them days women were very important they owned the tee they uh did all the cooking preparing but the Warriors they went out hunting and so forth but at that time my great great-grandfather pilaz went into a battle with the
3:58 Seuss and as he was writing as they were going into the battle he fell off his horse he went into a vision and they waited till he came out of his vision and he said within his vision he had seen the Warriors and he had seen three Warriors that were going to be
4:19 killed if they went on this war party and so what he did is he had them put out their rifles their bows whatever weapons they had and as they went through he went through he pointed out who does this weapon belong to one of the Warriors say ey the next one I the third one I he demanded these three to stay in
4:43 Camp these warriors were very angry we're not staying in Camp we're going to go out to battle and as they went into battle with the Sue tribe those three were the only casualties within that battle so they had special power and their powers their wakin what protect them and as they have special
5:05 ceremonies but now as we progress in today's life today now we call it powow and from All Over America we have different tribes and they dress and they wear the regelia and as they dance the music they can feel the music even little tiny babies they'll be bouncing around to the music it's just within the
5:28 individual and as you go to aawa everybody is welcome to AWA it is a time when everybody comes together it's a social Gathering you may dance they'll have in a tribal When anybody can go out there and dance and participate and then they have special ceremonies and during those special ceremonies you cannot uh video you cannot take pictures because
5:53 it's something sacred for instance the eagle feather is very important to the Indian people for all natives because the eagle that's their protector he's the one that has a sharp eyes and as he flies he can as you know he can spot a little uh animal on the ground and he'll zoom in and pick it up and take off with
6:17 it the ego is very important to the natives and not only just to the natives but to us as United States of America the eagle is very important to us us as United States citizens also but I want to uh describe uh marel this here is what we call the fast and fancy dance
6:41 and the eagle feather when you see women that are out there dancing in their butt skin that's what we call Tradition if they have two feathers that means they're married they have one feather that means they're single and in our traditional dance is the only time a woman can ask a man to dance and I
7:03 wanted to bring some uh little boys with me to demonstrate so that maybe we could have a little dance but uh it was such short notice I wouldn't able to pick up a young man to come out then you would have all been able to get but she has the eagle feather which is very important now if anybody ever drops the eagle feather because the E eagle feather is very sacred they'll have four
7:28 Warriors see those those days they had Warriors that would come up and dance and tell a story of something that he had accomplished maybe counting coup or whatever but today we don't have that anymore because we have moved on we have it simulated into what we call the white race today so now when they drop an eagle
7:51 feather we have four veterans that come forward somebody that fought in World War I World War II or even the arm more and they will come up and they will dance around that feather as they dance around that feather the drum will stop and one person picks up that eagle feather and as that person picks up that
8:14 eagle feather he will give a story of what happened when he was in the Army maybe he saved somebody's life maybe he received a Purple Heart see nowadays when you're in the service you can get all these different Awards or medallions or medals for uh being heroic well in those days the
8:38 union people as they went out to battle they had a horor uh times also so the one individual will come up and he will give his story of what took place a lot of them have been shot in the head you'll see some of the Warriors that will have their side painted it represented that he was injured in battle and that's where he was shot or
9:03 on this side or they have pain on them which describes that they had been injured in the army or the Navy or the Air Force they will dance and it's very expensive when that individual picks up that feather the person say that marel dropped the feather her mother all of us would have to go up there and we would
9:25 have to pay for that feather back and we pay the drummers money we give a penlon blanket which is an honor to the individual that had picked up this uh uh eagle feather and then the eagle feather is returned back to her then she can continue to dance but that's how sacret the eagle fitter is still to the tribes
9:49 throughout the United States okay we're going to have her do a a demonstration demonstration of a fast and fancy go ahead and and then dancing the ccle and when they dance you always dance
10:13 clockwise the only time you dance the opposite it's when there's a special occasion or a special Memorial you dance the other way but all Always Dance
10:28 clock
10:58 they very light on their feet as they dance and when they compete they will look at her feet how she moves her feet her arms her head when they're in competition in a power that drum stops they have to stop right at the drum beat if they miss a
11:21 drum beat they take points away from them [Music]
11:38 Dan the bird Dan
11:58 real G she was a little girl she was able to so they teach him the G when they're very very young when they get older than they have the rhym now this is some fast and fancy and then we're going to going to
12:23 demonstrate the jingle Jess now the jingle justess comes it's um uh when call it it comes from the uh Canadian right down to the northern part of Montana and a lot of the they adop one another's dancing and the reion and they try to get try to out do one
12:45 another just like everybody else
13:03 [Music] I'm trying to stop oh there oh it's down there okay she's going to go change her dress and then she'll be right back now the boys they also have a fast and fancy and if any of you since you're
13:28 from graille or the surrounding area and they have PS here in Ci or down in laway everybody is welcome to attend it's a time when everybody comes together and shares and when you dance when you're out there dancing you feel it inside you it's just like when you folks go break dancing or your martyan dancing you get
13:52 into it you show your face you're into it well that's the same way when they dance and they get out there and they dance around they get that feeling it it it's a drum that pounds inside it's a something that you can't really describe only I hope one time that you'll be able to get on the dance floor and that you will feel that it's a feeling that is so
14:16 great to a a native it's a medicine a lot of times it's a healing a lot of times it's a time when they're out there and they're praying as they dance and there's certain rules when you're on that dance floor because it is sacred it's just like when you go to church you don't stand in certain spots
14:38 in a church because it's a sacred part well when they dance that's the way it is when they go out there and dance they have rules that they have to obey by and I hope one day that you will all be able to attend a power and go out there and Dance Experience that it is something that will give you a feeling that you you'll be able to walk out and you'll
15:01 feel like you've been in another world let's say and uh the uh music you hear they have drummers they have different drums from different tribes and they sing and use their own language as they sing in some of the songs and some of them have um little humor to it just
15:23 like our modern day music you have humor and then you have uh your love music where you girls are all in love well it's the same way with u the native music too there's times when you laugh it's humorous and then there's times when you really you feel that love and we that's what we want to show is love
15:46 to all of you to come in and join us to see where we come from you know you read a lot of books they're all stereotype but until you learn and you know about the native you will know the true native and they have a loving heart and they give and they give and they give and they'll
16:09 give the last and they love to share and above all they love to eat when you go to any home first thing they invite you to eat that's why we are all nice and healthy but it's an experience and I hope hope you all you all had that chance to go into a family to be adopted
16:34 you can be adopted if somebody really take you in I have a little boy in fact his mother works at the park service in Spalding and I I gave him an Indian name and his name is H ha which means bear cuz when he was a little boy he was just a chubby little boy and I called him H because he reminded me of a little bear
16:59 but they still give names and uh I want uh marel to come back out marel come on out now our time's almost [Music] up and this is the Jingle dress as I stated it was adopted from the uh Canadians and brought down to northern part of Montana just like you'll see the
17:24 grass dance that's the same way they're all kind of uh adopted in even within our bead work if you look at the bead work a lot of the bead work are adopted
17:34 from the crows the nest veres in the
17:58 area
18:11 this oh okay doing okay
18:36 [Applause]
18:58 heyy as the uh as the uh Nest fores they went out and they traded sometimes they the Warriors would be gone from two to 3 days and then they would come back and bring all their uh all the trade and they really like Mir a lot of places they
19:22 see important a lot of them this is the Jingle Dr the difference here and she's got the uh the Bells on her uh [Applause] [Music]
19:37 [Applause] dress the
20:00 that Tri do down in the States but the jingle dress is is like I said they don't over I hope that you all enjoyed I hope
20:24 that you learn something and I hope I have get enough other how I that a time when the little gr up how they feel and it's just in you you don't have to practice it's just there I want to thank you all you all have a nice day and God bless you all
20:48 thank [Applause] you just thank you very thank you all for coming too appreciate your patience it's a great performance huh great so now you all can see you had a taste of a powwow right all right
21:13 right now we're going to keep you in your

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June Stewart on Nez Perce Powwow Traditions and Dances

June Stewart

Nez Perce

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June Stewart on Nez Perce Powwow Traditions and Dances

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