Meskwaki Tribe: What is a Powwow?

[Abby Brown] The Meskwaki people who live in Iowa now have ancestors who are some of the first people to ever live here. They've been celebrating and sharing their heritage every summer for over 100 years. This special celebration is called a powwow, and everyone is welcome to come and enjoy.

(Members of the Meskwaki Nation drumming and dancing.)

[Stephanie Snow] The word powwow actually is an Algonquin word that means social gathering.

[Abby] It is a party.

[Stephanie] Yeah!

[Stephanie] Our powwow started as a way to celebrate our harvest time, and so it was a way for all of our families to come together and just be social and have fun and celebrate our harvest.

[Storm Seymour] We used to have games years ago.

(Members of the Meskwaki Nation drumming and dancing.)

[Abby] Okay.

[Abby] The dancing, singing, and good times at the Meskwaki powwow not only brings the community together to reconnect, it's also a time to learn more and get a better understanding of a culture that has been here in Iowa for a very long time.

[Announcer] Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by the following supporters.

(text on screen Find Iowa, The Coons Foundation, Pella, Gilchrist Foundation)

(text on screen Iowa PBS Education)