Quapaw Pow Wow

For about 4 years, Patrick, his mom, Pat Ann, and I have traveled to Quapaw, OK for the annual pow wow.  We were there this year from July 2-6 and had a fun time!  This year, Pat Ann and I made our own shawls.  We took a class at the Wichita Mid-American Indian Center and got some help hemming the fabric from my mom.  I decided to make my shawl green fabric with purple fringe and added decorative sunflowers (for the Kansas girl).  These colors will match the traditional Quapaw dress that my mom made for me a couple of years ago.  Pat Ann's favorite color is red and red and navy are associated with the Quapaw tribe, so her shawl is red fabric with navy fringe.  She does beautiful counted-cross-stitch work and decided that is how she would decorate her shawl.  She looked and looked for a buffalo (another symbol of the Quapaw tribe), but wasn't able to find a buffalo pattern.  Pat Ann settled on sewing an eagle on her shawl.  I'd say the shawls turned out beautiful!

In most Native American traditions, if you want to enter the circle of the pow wow grounds to dance, either you should be dressed in regalia or women should be wearing a shawl.  At the Quapaw pow wow, they usually have several inter-tribal dances where anyone can join in, not just the contest dancers.  This is why we wanted to make our own shawls.  Pat Ann has a beautiful black shawl that was given to her many years ago that is at least 100 years old and she was told by an expert that she probably shouldn't be using it anymore as it is beginning to deteriorate.

I have really enjoyed our trips to the pow wows.  I think my favorite part of the pow wow is the opening, where special people are asked to carry in the American Flag, Quapaw Tribal Flag, and the POW Flag.  Following the flag, is the Grand Entry where all of the contest dancers parade in showing off some of their best steps.  This year was the biggest one I've seen, yet!  Below you will see several pictures from Grand Entry.

 Patrick's great-great grandparents were original allotees, which means they were each given a piece of land from our government.  Frank and Alice Valliere also started a Catholic Mission School for the Quapaw.  Patrick's grandmother and her sister attended the school.

The last day we were in Quapaw, Patrick and I had our picture taken with the road sign entering the Quapaw land. The t-shirt I am wearing in this photo was the pow wow shirt for this year.