Powwow Dances

Powwow dancers attempt to catch the judges' eyes with personal style, footwork falling on the beat of the music, and well-made dance attire. A dancer can be disqualified if they dance off beat, drop a part of the dance outfit during the performance, or fail to stop with both feet on the ground when the last beat of the drum sounds. A good dancer combines traditional aspects with personal attitude and individuality.

Men's Traditional Dance

Men's Traditional dancers tell a story with their movements - one of hunting, tracking, fighting, or imitating the courtship dances of prairie birds. The dancers' feet stay close to the ground while their heads and upper bodies actively play out their story line. This dance and the associated dance dress, or regalia, originated with 19th century warrior society members who danced to recount their war deeds and to tell stories.

Men's Fancy Dance

Taking basic steps and regalia from the Traditional dance, Fancy Dancers dress is noted for the colorful beadwork, feathers, ribbons, and an additional bustle worn at the back of the neck - accentuating each of the dancer's athletic movements. The best Fancy Dancers are able to make the complex movements of their body and regalia fall on beat with the drum as well as dazzle your eyes.

Men's Grass Dance

Marked by quick and fluid movements, the Grass Dance is more active than the Men's Traditional dance. Grass Dancers move by shaking their shoulders, swaying their torsos from the hip, and darting suddenly to change their direction. They do not wear a bustle, but rather a shirt and pants heavily fringed with ribbon, yarn or cloth moving as an extension of the dancer's body, reminiscent of prairie grass swaying in the wind. Some Grass Dancers use trick steps that give the appearance that the dancer is off balance, only to gracefully recover just in time.

Women's Traditional Dance

The Women's Traditional dance is a powerful and personal dance of expression. These dancers move with extreme grace and subtlety, keeping their feet close to the ground and either moving slowly forward or bobbing slightly with the beat of the drum. These simple steps have their origin in older times when women did not dance in the arena, but stood outside the circle and kept time with their feet. Dancers wear or carry shawls, a sign of modesty and respect, and long traditional buckskin or cloth dresses.

Women's Fancy Shawl Dance

Fancy Shawl dancers are recognized by their energetic dance style, in which they seem to float around the arena, their shawls outstretched like beautiful wings. Dancers create this illusion by moving around the arena on their toes, kicking high and twirling into the air. This dance is extremely athletic and strenuous, and is usually danced by girls and young women. The dancers keep up with the fast pace of the song while retaining a gentle elegance, using their beautifully decorated fringed shawls to accentuate every movement.

Women's Jingle Dress Dance

The most musical of the powwow dances, the Jingle Dress competition is gracefully accompanied by the tinkling sound of the jingle dress in motion. These dancers are distinctive in their dresses covered by rows of triangular metal cones. The dance has no set choreography, and dancers use a variety of rocking, stepping and hopping motions to make the jingles on their dresses chime along with the beat of the drum. Although this dance originated in Northern Minnesota among the Anishinabe people, it has become tremendously popular among women dancers of all ages on the Northern Plains.

Tiny Tots Dance

When the announcer calls for the Tiny Tots dance, a number of young children fill the arena; dancing, wiggling and jumping along to the beat of the drum. The Tiny Tots dance includes young children, ages 6 and under, who are just learning to dance - encouraging them to join in with powwow activities. The inclusion of youngsters in the powwow dances ensures that the next generation carries on the powwow tradition - and work to become the champion powwow dancers of tomorrow!

Social Dances

In addition to competition dances and specials, a number of social dances fill the powwow schedule. Among these are the intertribal and round dances, that include all dance categories, ages and genders. Powwow visitors should feel free to join in these dances upon invitation from the Emcee.

Music: The Drums

It is hard to imagine a powwow without a drum. It is the drum that makes the dancers want to move, and the better the drum, the more the dancers feel the excitement of the performance. The drum is a term used to refer to both the instrument and the group of people sitting at the drum to play and sing. One or more lead singers, who start the songs, may have over one hundred songs in the personal repetoire. The songs sung at powwow are varied and endless in number: some are traditional and passed down through history, others are contemporary and created to speak to current concerns and interests. Some of the songs are sung in their traditional tribal language, which aides to keeping the languages alive and vital for the younger generation. Many of the songs are sung in vocables (rhythmically sung syllables) such as "hey," "yah" or "lay." The use of vocables makes the songs easier for singers and dancers of all tribes to remember. There are typically a number of drum groups at each powwow, and they trade off the playing duties for each song.

The Plains Indian Museum sponsors the spectacular Plains Indian Museum Powwow held each June in the Robbie Powwow Garden at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Dancers from all over North America come to Cody to compete for cash and prizes.