Reznet

Montana Powwow Overcomes Cutbacks, Setbacks

By Adam Sings In The Timber

MISSOULA, Mont.—Despite being shorter in length and taking longer to organize, this year’s Native American student-run powwow at the University of Montana attracted more than 500 dancers and 20 drums.

Amber Walks Over Ice, vice president of the Kyi-Yo Native American Student Association, which organized the 41st annual Kyi-Yo Celebration, declared the powwow a success—despite cutbacks and setbacks.

“The officers and the small amount of members have just been really busy, working their butts off throughout both semesters,” Walks Over Ice said.

The powwow was cut to two days, from the usual three, and the Kyi-Yo organizers lacked the assistance of a powwow class, normally offered in spring semester to train students to help organize the celebration. The university was unable to fund the class this year, Walks Over Ice said.

Crow-style dancer Calvin Walks Over Ice, of Lodge Grass, Mont., said he skipped the Crow Nation’s election of a new tribal chairman April 18 so he could be in Missoula for the powwow.

“We thought that our style of dance should be represented here since they were gracious enough to have a category for our style of dance,” he said.

In addition to all the dancers and spectators, more than 20 drums participated in this year’s powwow, including host drums Meskwaki Nation from Tema, Iowa, and Eya-Ney Nakoda from Morley, Alberta, Canada.

Adam Sings In The Timber, Crow, is a senior majoring in photojournalism at the University of Montana in Missoula. A graduate of the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute, Sings In The Timber has had photo internships at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., and the Billings Gazette and Great Falls Tribune in Montana. In October 2007, he attended the Eddie Adams Workshop, an intense four-day gathering of top photojournalism professionals in New York City and won a scholarship as the top student.

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