The JC Morning Star PowWow did not take place for the past two years due to challenges and limitations of COVID-19. On January 16, 2023, the PowWow successfully returned.

The first JC PowWow was held in 2001. “It was a fairly small event for the first time out, but every year it’s just gotten bigger and bigger,” said PowWow Director Gary Scholl.

This year, people from all over the country attended the event.

JC’s doors opened promptly at 10 am. Traders and vendors lined the entrance and hallways while food was offered in the cafeteria. At 10:30, Native flute playing began in the Upper Gym.
Later at 1 pm, the Grand Entry began, marking the official beginning of the PowWow. During the Grand Entry, there was a flag song performed by the drummers and singers.

Mr. Scholl explained, “Each tribe has their own version of their own nation anthem, [which is] their flag song.”

The Grand Entry ceremony also included inter-tribal and social dancing.

In the Upper Gym, there were two Southern drums and one Northern drum. The drum located in the center of the gym was a Southern drum, led by Dennis and Ralph Zotigh of the Kiowa Tribe. “The Zotigh singers are known nationally,” said Mr. Scholl.

In addition to the two Southern drums, there was a “Northern drum led by Sonny White Buffalo who is Lakota. He’s from the Rosebud Reservation out in South Dakota,” Mr. Scholl said.
Mr. Scholl emphasized the importance of the drum at PowWow celebrations. “The drum is really the heart of the whole event. The Native people even call it the ‘heartbeat’ of the Earth. We’re very fortunate to have very good drum groups [because] that attracts a lot of dancers. We probably had about 100 dancers—and that’s pretty good for a local PowWow.”

Later in the afternoon, the evening dance session began and lasted from 5:30-8 pm.
Mr. Scholl’s Anthropology students played a significant role in assuring that the PowWow ran smoothly.

“Those 15 students spent Friday evening setting up; they were even [at JC] from early in the morning until the end of the PowWow at 8:00 pm. They worked really hard,” explained Mr. Scholl. “They ran the gate; they did the raffles; they set up; [they] took down. They did all these things during the PowWow to run it, and yet they were still having fun doing it.”

Anthropology student Lane Miller said that the PowWow was fun because he was able to “run an event for a culture different than my own.”

Mr. Scholl’s biggest hope for all PowWow attendees was for them “to learn about, appreciate, and celebrate Native American traditions.”

“The history of Native people in this country is a story of hardship and struggle and oppression. The contemporary PowWow is one of the things that is emblematic of a resurgence, a rebirth, of Native traditions,” Mr. Scholl said.

Mr. Scholl elaborated on the importance of Native American traditions and celebrations. “In spite of some of the tragedy of the past, Native people have a vibrant, colorful, and wise set of traditions. I just want people to see that.”