Tid Bits

Here are some Tid Bits about pow wow, Aboriginal dance and games.

• Many different Aboriginal groups or tribes attend the same pow wows.
• Pow wows are held all across North America.
• Aboriginal dances include the Round Dance, Eagle Dance, Gourd Dance, and the Rain Dance.
• The oldest form of women’s dance in the Buckskin Dance.
• The Jingle Dress is also referred to as a prayer dress.
• The pow wow dance season begins in the spring.
• The Potlatch ceremony, which was a West Coast Aboriginal tradition, was banned in 1887 by the Indian Act. The ban was not repealed until 1951.
• The government goal in abolishing participation in the Potlatch ceremony was assimilation.
• The Sundance was banned in 1895 through another amendment to the Indian Act.
• In 1914, another Indian Act amendment barred Aboriginal people from participating without official consent from the Indian Agent in dances, shows, exhibitions, stampedes, and pageants.
• In 1971, the Native Summer Games held in Enoch, Alberta drew 3,000 participants competing in 13 sports and many cultural events.
• In 1973, the Western Canada Native Winter Games were held on the Blood Reserve in Kainai, Alberta.
• Few Indigenous peoples compete in mainstream sport, especially youth.
• The first North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) was held in Edmonton, Alberta in 1990.