Every year when holding the Pow Wow at John Carroll, people come from all over the country to join in on the celebrations and traditional dances. There are several different dance styles for both the men and the women.

For the women, the category for the elders is called “Women’s Traditional.” In that category, there are a variety of different tribal styles. It is the one dance where tribal variations are clearly evident.

Pow Wow Coordinator Gary Scholl provided a few examples of these variations. “For the Plains Indians, you’ll see buckskin dresses and different styles of bead work; for the West Coast, you will see completely different tribal styles of dress that are very formal, very dignified.”

Another style that is a little more athletic and dramatic in terms of the styles of dance is the jingle dress that comes from up North through the Ojibwa tribe. The dresses have hundreds of tin cones attached to it, so when they dance, it jingles.

Mr. Scholl explained that this is a dance for healing, and even during the pandemic many jingle dress dancers put their dances online to send out blessings to the world. It doesn’t matter what tribe someone is from; they all wear the tin cones as part of the dance.

The most athletic style of dance for women is “Women’s Fancy Shawl.” For this dance, there are some tribal variations with the ribbon work and the bead work that goes with the leggings and moccasins and get specific tribal identity. The biggest part of the dance is the ribbon work and even the shawls themselves. The shawls go over their shoulders and act as a mini cape.

Mr. Scholl said, “They are truly athletes because they are flying the fringe of the shawls just like a butterfly.”

Different Pow Wows break down different traditional styles, but those are the three basic ones for women.

For the men, the dance mostly for elders is a “Men’s Traditional” or more specifically a northern and southern traditional dance. It is the most dignified and reserved kind of dancing, especially the southern traditional dance. Mr. Scholl mentioned the dance is emblematic of the elders and the leaders in the various tribes and their different tribal styles.

Another variation of dance is the Grass Dancers. Grass Dancers come from the North but are seen all over the country. There are many traditional steps and moves, including regalia specific to each tribe.

Although the men have many more kinds of dances, the most rigorous and athletic dancing is the “Men’s Fancy Dance.” They have two big feather brussels: one on the back and one on the hip. There are splits, cartwheels, and flips involved.

Mr. Scholl commented “You have to be in unbelievable shape to be able to dance a full song with those guys.”

Most of the regalia for the dances are made by the family, and it takes a long time to accumulate all of the different pieces of a dance outfit. Especially with the men’s traditional dance, there are different head gear for tribes like full porcupine roaches or full feather headgear.

The JC Pow Wow will take place on January 14.