Once again Lakota Red Nations participated in Black Hills Powwow at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center located in Rapid City South Dakota. This powwow featured dance and singing competitions with special emphasis on the Northern Plains’ traditions.
This powwow is one of the largest in the area attracting hundreds of participants and thousands of visitors, Native and non-Native alike. Being the early days of October, tourists from abroad still enjoying the last days of their summer holidays experience a slice of Plains Indian culture and hospitality. We met some old friends and made many new ones.
As always, we not only had plenty of handcrafted items for sale at the powwow but also had a picture exhibit highlighting significant moments in Lakota and Dakota history. Through these visual images and descriptions Kelly provides for visitors to our booth perspectives of events in Northern Plain Indian history that are underrepresented or misrepresented in standard US history textbooks used in schools.
There are good efforts to change the way history is taught and to educate a new generation of teachers and Native American youth developing a deeper contextualized understanding of the past. South Dakota Indian Education Summit brings together professionals across the country to study and share experience in best practice in the field of Indian education and this year we participated as vendors and attended several sessions that focused on integrating Native American cultural values in education and creating strong learning environments for youth in Indian Country.
November is Native American Heritage month and there are many ways you can take advantage of activities throughout the country to educate you and your family on American Indian history. To learn more visit Native American Heritage Month a resource site for teachers and anyone interested in delving into history from different perspectives. To commemorate, we’ll be posting brief articles on historical events, places of interest and the invaluable contributions that the Lakota/Sioux have made throughout history and today.
