Some time ago, when the Alex Johnson Hotel came into being, Indians were compensated  to dance in the street. Dancing for the dollar was not a part of the Lakota way of being, but life had changed so dramatically that survival was no longer a matter of woableze and of choice. The physical wars were fought and lost or won, depending on the point of view. Cultural evolution was in fast-forward for the Lakota. The dignified elders and leaders of the camps were now exhibiting their honor songs and dances in order to survive in the new cash economy. Poverty was no longer dictated by natural law; not having provisions to last an unusually long winter. Poverty was now the lack of the shiny coin.

Still today, the success of the pow-wow seems to be determined by the purse, the amount of available dollars for the dance competition. Our woableze can be stretched from one extreme to the other, in thinking of the effects of competition pow-wows and I wanted to get your opinion. Not that I think that we can stand in the way of a strong current, we can still have some discussion about this matter.

Some say that the competition pow-wows bring pride to the young people and are the means of some income to a poverty-stricken population. For the practical minded, it is a time to see relatives in one place and a time when they can relax without having their racism shields up. That is the positive extreme of the cultural scale. On the other end, I hear comments, especially from elders, like, “Eces lehanl mazaska un ecela wacinp lah”  (People only dance for money now days) or “Wambli wiyaka ki wakan ska un akiciyap” (Eagle feathers are sacred but they’re using them to compete) or “Wicincala ki lehanl igluonihanpi sni ca kejagjag wacip” (Girls are dishonoring themselves by kicking their legs around) and most frequently, ”Imahag’ic’iya waci pica sni, ecela akiciya wacipi ca”  (You can’t just dance for enjoyment because all there is competition dancing).

Elders, having experienced pow-wows in another time, are probably uncomfortable with the too-fast evolution. And we only know today’s pow-wows as they are, but we should look back as best we could (woableze) and think of the qualities of those celebrations, evaluate what is happening today and process that into what we need to preserve for the future (wacintanka).

I heard a story from a friend that bothered me. Two young women tied for first place in the fancy shawl category at one of these competition pow-wows and were to dance again to break the tie. During the noon meal, one of them dumped her wojapi all over the other’s dress. How Lakota is that? I think our ancestors would devise an Iktomi (trickster) story about the jealousy that competitiveness breeds. What would help Lakota people be able to discipline themselves against this type of jealousy? Do we still have the ability to waableza and to be wacintanka in the pow-wow scenario that is such an important factor in our contemporary lives?

I don’t mean to offend pow-wows dancers who participate in competition dancing. I know many good people who do and do so with good intentions. My intention here is to raise the questions: What will our pow-wows look like two generations or seven generations from now? Will it resemble what our ancestors originated the gatherings for in their time?  

Personally, I am quite in awe of the management skills, the wit and the humor of the M.C.’s (masters of ceremony) of pow-wows. They are much more than that. I think they are unsung heroes in cultural evolution.

Some good friends and others are working on “decolonization”, which is to create an awareness about what beliefs and practices we’ve adopted from Euro cultures by oppression, without woableze and that have warped our own beliefs and practices.  There are so many fast-track changes that are happening, not only to indigenous cultures, but to all of America. We could all benefit from “decolonization” and woableze.