For the twelfth year in a row, Vice Principal for Academics Gary Scholl will be dressing up in tribal clothing and an authentic Native American headdress at the American Indian PowWow Morning Star Celebration. Scholl dresses in these garments along with the Native American performers who come to the PowWow to participate in dance events and costume displays.
The Morning Star Celebration begins Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. in the upper gym. The sponsors of the PowWow encourage guests to “celebrate American Indian culture with music, dance, food, and crafts.” The suggested donation for admission is four dollars per adult and two dollars per child. Proceeds from the benefit will go towards the St. Labre Indian School in Montana.
New this year, Scholl and his anthropology students are also offering a photo contest. Photographers can come in, take pictures, and then submit them to Scholl electronically. According to Scholl, his students will help him pick out the winning photographs. “I’m not sure what the prize is going to be yet, but there will be some recognition for the winning photographs,” Scholl said.
The celebration offers Cheyenne & Crow dress displays, Native American flute, gourd dancing, the “Grand Entry” dance, the Dog & Pony Show folk music, and evening dancing. The Master of Ceremonies is Clayton Old Elk from the Crow tribe in Montana. There will also be a special presentation by St. Labre student dancers and drum group.
“St. Labre Indian School is sending in a student drum group and student dancers. Right after the grand entry, they’re going to put on a 20 minute special presentation of their singing and traditional dancing. The people that come to this event to participate will enjoy watching the students dance. I think that’s going to be a really special feature of this year’s PowWow,” Scholl said.
In addition to the special performance by the student dancers and the student drum group, the performers will be going to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. the following day to perform.
“Their performance there will be at 12. We did this four years ago, and they drew a huge crowd. So I’m hopeful the same thing will happen this year. They were like rock stars. Everyone wanted their pictures taken with them. It’s really a great experience for them,” Scholl said.
Scholl plans on getting students involved with the St. Labre students. “ This year, we’re going to get our anthropology students and St. Labre students together, and we’re going to do a speed dating kind of organization where they’ll go from table to table and sit down and talk with one another. It’ll be an opportunity for our students to get to know their students,” Scholl said.
For more information on this event visit morningstarpowwow.com.
Emily Clarke is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.
Additional reporting by Grace Kim.