‘37th Annual CSUN Powwow’ celebrates Native American culture – Daily Sundial

Powerful songs from the drums of the North and South guided the lead dancers under brilliant blue skies as they celebrated their Native American culture at the “37th Annual CSUN Powwow.” With the help of CSUN’s American Indian Student Association, tribes from across the country gathered around a large circle dance on the grass of the Sierra Quad on November 26 to share song, dance, art and giveaways.

These celebrations are an essential part of Native American culture because it is a time when people from different tribes interact with the rest of the indigenous community. The term originated from the Algonquian word “Pau Wau”, which refers to a medicine man. When white settlers began to assert themselves on Native American lands, they used the word by calling any gathering of American Indians a “powwow.”

“Powwows are a celebration of life, we’re here to meet people,” said Robert Roberts, a Northern folk dancer at the event. “We dance in a circle, circles are an important shape for the natives because the shape has no beginning or end and that’s how the world works.”

Tradition plays a vital role in celebrations, and the one held at CSUN was no exception. Ever since CSUN’s first event, held on the lawn where the University Student Union currently stands, the celebration has been an intertribal affair.