Both social and spectacular, North American powwows celebrate Indigenous dance, music, food and art. And they’re also a reason to visit a place, a form of tourism touching every state and province, with enthusiasts following powwow trails each summer from community to community across North America.
Powwows usually start with a grand entry of the participants, followed by a series of ceremonies performed according to certain protocols. There are the drummers, and there are the dancers, in their colourful and often elaborate regalia, which, as the Smithsonian reports, blends historical and modern dress, reflecting community traditions and personal taste. There’s also food and, at most contemporary powwows, vendors selling merch.
Last year, the Toronto-based community and advocacy group 2-Spirited People of the First Nations launched the first-ever two-spirit powwow in the city, welcoming as many as 1,000 participants and spectators to a full day of celebration and ceremony. The second of what is now an annual event will take place on May 27, 2023, at the city’s Downsview Park.
Similar events, which recognize that two-Spirit people don’t always conform to conventional gender norms, have sprung up in California’s San Francisco Bay area, Phoenix, Arizona, Flathead Lake, Montana, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“It was so well-received. The community had such an amazing time and we’ve gotten so much amazing, positive feedback. It was quite a larger attendance than perhaps we expected. A lot of folks have said that this is the standard where powwows need to be,” says Keith McCrady, executive director of 2-Spirited People of the First Nations.
The impulse to host two-spirit powwows is partly a reaction to other events that impose binary gender norms, which were, in turn, often imposed on Indigenous peoples by colonizing powers, says McCrady. For example, some powwow organizers will not allow drummers who are assigned female at birth to drum or permit dancers assigned male at birth to perform the jingle-dress or fancy-shawl dances. Last year McCrady’s group quite deliberately had a drummer who identifies as a woman.
“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need one, but a two-spirit powwow is the safest way to celebrate yourself,” says McCrady. “I would love other powwows to take the teachings we have to adjust the protocols and expectations we have of people, and realize that some of the [problems are] due to colonization, due to the Catholic influence, due to European ways of knowing and being male and female. Two-spirit always existed. The people who lost those two-spirit teachings really need to take a look at the reason why they have these really rigid expectations of gender and sexuality.”
How do you go about attending a powwow?
Though people will come and go throughout the day, it’s worth showing up for the grand entry, says McCrady. Over the course of the schedule, there will be dances and ceremonies, as well as opportunities to socialize and eat.
“Anyone who is part of the community is welcome,” he says. “If you are someone who’s an outsider, a non-Indigenous person who has no connection, you’re still welcome, but with the intent that you are asking to be part of the community. Meaning that you’ll be respectful to others, you’ll be appreciative of the people hosting you and that you leave things better than when you arrived. The easiest way of saying it is that everyone is welcome.”
Other tips: Ask permission to take photos of someone in regalia when they are not performing and be polite when asking about how the merch was made and by whom; it’s good to be curious but don’t force vendors to explain things over and over. And it’s never a bad idea to bring a folding chair and some shade.
The moment at last year’s powwow that most touched McCrady was meeting a 60-year-old two-spirit woman who had driven five hours to attend.
“They said they couldn’t be who they are in their own communities, they can’t be out, they can’t identify as two-spirit because of the stigma and discrimination they experienced, and how they were so grateful for this,” McCrady says. “The number of people who told us this was their first two-spirit powwow and how they felt like it was the safest powwow they’ve been in.”
The second annual Toronto 2-Spirit Powwow, hosted by 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 27, 2023, at Downsview Park (70 Canuck Ave.).
