NATIVE AMERICAN POWWOW DANCERS-Pg 3

The Traditional women dancers, on the other hand, present a more regal style. They dance with their backs straight and heads held high. A Traditional woman dancer carries a long fringed shawl over one arm and in the other had holds an eagle feather fan. They take small, dipping steps that make the fringe on their gowns and shawl sway gently to the rhythm of the drum. Their dresses also reflect a closeness to nature being made from animal skins and decorated with elk teeth, cowrie shells and porcupine quills (Ancona 1993:26-28). Their hair is usually worn in two braids, done in the French braid style. On the center back of the head is worn one or two beautiful eagle feathers attached with various hair ornaments, usually beaded. Many wear a single "breath" feather, a soft downy eagle feather. They wear leggings and deerskin moccasins that are decorated in beadwork (Braine 1995:21).

After the Traditional dancers come the Fancy dancers, with the men again performing first. The men's Fancy dance is an energetic and fast style of dance, a dance of younger men. They spin, twist and use quick steps and fast turns making it a dance of strength and endurance. Their outfits are traditional but made of lots of bright colors, metallic beads, sequins and ribbons which all create a flashy display as they dance. They have two bustles instead of one, one at the shoulders and one at the lower back. In addition to the head roach, they also wear intricately beaded headbands with a large beaded medallion on the forehead (Ancona 1993:30-32).

The Fancy Dance evolved from the early Plains tribe's war and victory dances. Buffalo Bill Cody exploited this dance by enlisting Indians to dance during his Wild West shows. Because of this connection to Buffalo Bill, the Fancy Dance was considered a "sellout" to the white man's society and for some time was not acceptable to many Indians.

After the Fancy men dancers come the women's Fancy dancers, sometimes called Fancy Shawl. This style is popular with girls and young women because it requires fast footwork, spins and leaps. Like the Fancy men dancers, the Fancy women dancers dazzle everyone with bright colors and shiny sequins and the long fringe of their shawls. The shawls are folded in half squarely and worn over the shoulders while their hands and arms hold out the ends spreading out the shawls, like a bird spreading it's wings. Jumping and whirling and dancing around the arbor, the Fancy Shawl dancers look like flashes of bright butterfly wings (Ancona 1993:34). The Shawl dancers wear knee length dresses with matching leggings and moccasins. It is thought by some that this dance developed as the shawl replaced the blankets and animal robes worn by young women years ago. (Rendon 1996:32).