Sky Hopinka Organizes Powwows to Process Childhood

Powwow has been a part of Sky Hopinka history since before it was born. His mother (Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians) and father (Ho-Chunk Nation), from California and Wisconsin, respectively, met more than 40 years ago on the weekend powwow circuit that has long brought communities together. indigenous people to dance, celebrate and sell products. and business stories.

Where many forms of indigenous performance are directed inward, the powwow stands out for what Hopinka described to me when we spoke last fall as an ’embedded gaze’: it is conceived as a form of public display. The meetings use dance as a space for cultural survival, in which participants from different nations mix traditions or refine new ones. For Hopinka, while the powwow ‘is not for everyone, it is important that young people participate in ceremonies and social activities. […] understand that the things that make up their communities are valuable.’ Historically divided into ‘North’ and ‘South’ styles, the powwow arose from the forced resettlement of different communities far from their countries of origin. Hopinka spent his youth dancing in the Northern style and performing the ‘Grass Dance’, with its propulsive rhythm and flowing, ribboned attire. During his freshman year in college, he began organizing powwows for his indigenous student group. He reminds me: ‘It was meaningful to do that job, especially because it was something that helped ground me while I was looking for a community and…