She’s just three years old, but Lisa Manywounds has already been initiated into the Tsuut’ina Nation Pow Wow circle as a dancer.
“It’s a rite of passage for a lot of our youth coming into the powwow,” said mom Carmel Starlight. “It’s been a tradition of ours for years.”
Starlight herself was a powwow dancer and travelled the world performing. For her, waiting to get her youngest of five involved in this traditional celebration wasn’t really an option.
“She’s been dancing since she was born pretty much, so…” laughed Starlight, whose oldest daughter, Talita Manywounds, started dancing in powwows just last year.
For the teen, powwow dancing motivated her to become a role model for other Indigenous youth. She recently competed for and won the title of Junior/Senior High Education Princess.
“I wanted to encourage the little kids to go… maybe do the same as what I’m doing,” Talita Manywounds said.
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Modern-day powwows have evolved over the last century, becoming big competitions where dancers, singers and drummers can win thousands of dollars in a single weekend. Prizes for youth contestants are typically smaller, but where youngsters really win is in the learning opportunities that powwows present them with.
“We have a specific youth powwow just because we need to acknowledge and honour the young, future generations to maintain and continue our traditions,” explained Tsuut’ina Pow Wow president Hal Eagletail.
“It really keeps the culture alive,” Starlight said, “by teaching them the dances and the significance of the dances and where they come from.”
Once initiated, youth are not only able to compete, they also earn the right to organize future events. They are taught all the elements that go into creating and running a powwow.
“These are the things that we teach them young so we never die out and we never lose this beautiful history,” Starlight said.
It would appear there seems to be little concern for that. Eagletail said the Tsuut’ina Nation have had no issues in recruiting youngsters for powwows while Talita Manywounds said dancing has always been something she’s wanted to do.
“It makes me really proud, like, it’s my culture,” she said. “I get to show everybody how our culture is.”
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