Ptanyetu Powwow hosted at St. Ben’s

On Saturday, Nov. 7, the Clemens Fieldhouse filled with the sound of drums, the jingle of regalia and the smell of sage, as CSB+SJU hosted the Ptanyetu Powwow. Director of Native Nation Initiatives and sociology professor Ted Gordon estimates that about 1,000 people came through over the course of the day.

Three drum groups and roughly 50 dancers took part, with open dances for the whole community, specific dances meaningful to the dancers’ own nations, games and a lineup of vendors.

“It’s like a big family reunion and a county fair wrapped into one,” Gordon said.

This partnership has been in the making for decades. The powwow began more than 30 years ago at St. Cloud State University and rotates each fall among the schools that co-sponsor it, always on the first or second Saturday of November. CSB+SJU hosts about once every three years, and Gordon serves on the planning committee every year.

Gordon believes that fostering partnerships and hosting similar events is important for every school.

“Schools should be partnering with their Native neighbors in hosting events like powwows,” Gordon said.

For this campus, though, the event carries added weight because of the land’s history.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Native American boarding schools were operated on and adjacent to the campuses, run by monastic communities. Gordon described them as part of the national project meant to create a future in which no one identified as Native.

“Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but there is still a lot of work that needs to take place,” Gordon said.

That history surfaced during the first Grand Entry, when spiritual advisor Joe Big Bear shared a story about his own grandfather running away from a boarding school. He also noted that some of the dances performed at the powwow were illegal even during his lifetime. For Gordon, this is why being part of the event is so meaningful.For the Indigenous Students

Gordon’s office works to address that legacy. He teaches courses on Native American history and culture and leads service and research projects that help students work toward goals set by tribal partners. Much of that research focuses on boarding schools, and he works with colleagues across departments to find experiential learning opportunities with those partners.

Association (ISA), the powwow was a chance to show that a small campus has a Native student community. ISA President Bella Ziegler said the event is important not only to CSB+SJU but also to St. Cloud State and the area’s high schools.

“Even though we are small, we do have a community of Indigenous students, and we want to be present for them,” Ziegler said.

Ziegler emphasized that the powwow gives those students a place where they can see the community lifting them up.

Ziegler’s highlights included the vendors, especially the Fry Bread Sisters, whose earrings she was wearing as she spoke.

“Everyone should at least try fry bread once in their life,” Ziegler said.

She also recommended the lemonade, and she was glad to see students join the floor during intertribal dances.

“There was a lot of participation and interaction,” Zeigler said.

Jason Jones, a junior at SJU, said, “My favorite part of the powwow was seeing all of the unique outfits and the way the dancers used them to make sounds while dancing.”

The powwow will take place again next year and will be hosted by a different school.