Tribal traditions

NEIL GONZALES
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, Feb 19, 2006

Marcos Madril, right, of the Pascua Yaqui tribe and Tony Fuentes of the Sioux dance Saturday in traditional garb at the Winter Benefit Powwow Credit: Calixtro Romias/The Record

STOCKTON - Peggy Wagner of Stockton learned a little bit of American Indian dance as a youngster.

"It was just the toe-heel, toe-heel thing," the 56-year-old said. Now she wants to expand her repertoire but with "a slow one probably to start."

Wagner was at the right place to sample native dances at Saturday's Winter Benefit Powwow in University of the Pacific's main gym.

The celebration featured dances of the Northern Plains and Southern Plains plus other American Indian nations. The event drew participants representing such tribes as the Apache, Lakota and Ho-Chunk as well as plenty of non-Indian spectators.

Up to 800 people were expected to attend the festivities put together by Pacific and by the Stockton Unified School District's Native American Indian Center, organizer Medea Caraig said.

"We got quite a bit of dancers from a bunch of different tribes," she said.

Elias Pico, right, of the Pechanga tribe dances Saturday with members of other tribes at the Winter Benefit Powwow at University of the Pacific Credit: Calixtro Romias/The Record

The powwow was the first for Sai Moua, 22, a senior at Pacific. "It's very interesting," he said. "They got very beautiful clothes. I'm just looking around, and they have a lot of cool stuff."

Numerous vendors were selling colorful American Indian items such as chokers, beaded necklaces and webbed wooden circles called dream catchers.

The main attraction, though, arose from the arena on the gym's hardwood floor. That's where Webster Middle School teacher and Muscogee Creek member Clyde Hodge, wearing a headdress made of an eagle feather and porcupine quills, led family and friends in a dance.

To one side, a circle of men sang an honor song while beating on a drum in a slow Southern Plains rhythm akin to the pulse of a heartbeat. Later, others either in traditional American Indian dress or everyday wear performed an intertribal dance to a faster Northern Plains song.

Adrianna White Horsley, 10, a fifth-grader at Taft Elementary School who is a member of the Ho-Chunk nation, enjoyed the native dancing.

"I feel free to open up to my culture," she said. "I'm not afraid to dance in front of people."

Contact reporter Neil Gonzales at (209) 239-3361 or [email protected]