THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605070142
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEXIS M. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The steady beat of the drums, singing and loud Indian cries could be heard from a distance around Mount Trashmore last weekend.
Representatives from the Iroquois, Algonquin, Sioux, Navajo, Ojibwa and Cherokee came together for the second annual Veterans' Honor Pow Wow.
The powwow is a spiritual ceremony, a time for American Indian families to be together with other family members and friends to reflect on tradition, and to honor the past and celebrate the future.
Saturday about 10,000 people attended the event, which included dancing such as the grass dance, fancy dance, straight dance and jingle dance; singing; storytelling; and displays of American Indian crafts. The grand entry began at noon with veterans and American Indians in full regalia. They carried wooden digging sticks, walking sticks and sticks with a turkey foot on the end, and wore beaded moccasins, vests and headpieces.
Donald Brightpath Kuhns, owner of American Heritage and one of the sponsors, said, ``We are here to carry on our true spirit into the dance arena so that other people may be better informed of our people's ways.
``We are bringing to the people not a show, we are bringing our spirituality, our oldest teachings so that they may learn the things that have been taught to us through generations. We are giving them a part of ourselves,'' said Kuhns, who is also the grandson of Chief Custalow of the Mattaponi.
American Indian crafts were sold by 40 vendors throughout the lake area. ``All the vendors are native people with handmade crafts. These crafts are an extension of ourselves and have been taught to us by other American Indians,'' said Kuhns.
Rainbow Shell Woman and Silver Hawk from outside Winston-Salem, N.C., were selling the furs that Silver Hawk traps three months out of each year. He tans the hides and makes clothing the same as his ancestors did.
``We use several tanning methods depending on the season. If we tan a deer hide for summer we use the brains of the deer and water to tan the skins and this makes it very porous. It's cooler than cotton when worn,'' said Rainbow Shell Woman, whose real name is Trudi Hartz, 48. ``And to show where old meets new, it can be machine washed.
``We use every part of the deer, there is no waste. We also use the bones to make leg bone knives.''
Pete Davidson, a part American Indian from Virginia Beach, said, ``This is like church to our people. We get close to the creator by having the ceremony outside.
``And we wanted to honor the veterans of all wars.''
Other sponsors of this event were Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, that supplied the equipment and the location, GTE Mobilnet and The Virginian-Pilot. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP
ABOVE: Members of the North American Iroquois Veterans Association
lead the Grand Entry parade with the eagle staff, the American flag
and flags of the Seneca Nation of Indians and the Iroquois Nation at
the second annual Veterans' Honor Pow Wow.
AT RIGHT: Native American dancer Ricky Chavis of North Carolina's
Haliwa Saponi contingent does a war dance. The festive event took
place at Mount Trashmore.
by CNB