Bet You Didn’t Know…
That I was the Kateri Circle Pow Wow Princess did ya?
I didn’t think so, and I honestly think most people don’t. Which is fine, I didn’t expect you to. What is the Kateri Circle Pow Wow Princess? Well, It is a very honorable position for a young lady to represent a certain Pow Wow for a year to help bring awareness and such to said Pow Wow.
Well, my lucky year was in 2003 I believe. I am pretty sure I was 17 when it was my turn. My grandmother was the head of the Pow Wow committee for the Kateri Circle and so I think it was pretty obvious that I would be a shoe in. Not to mention that well, they didn’t have anyone else for that year. So, I came into the picture.
I think they called me the rock and roll princess because I had Blue hair at the time. You didn’t know I had Blue hair either? Wow, you have missed a lot. I miss my Blue hair actually… But not enough to have to see the ugly Green color is leaves when it all washes away. I’ll stick with Blue-Black. BUT, I digress.
So, I was 17 years old and had Blue hair, which I later had to dye to Brown. I had to go to every single Pow Wow and Native American church thing to represent the Kateri Circle. I had to dance to every single song at the Pow wow and I had to be one of the first to enter and leave the arena for Grand Entry and closing ceremonies.
I have never considered myself to be a good dancer or anything but I wasn’t half bad though. I tried my best to make my grandmother proud. There is something that takes control when I am out there in the arena. I listen to every beat of the drum and to each note that the singers hit. I’m free. Well, I feel free at least.
Now, I never really felt like I fit in with the Pow Wow crowd because well, I don’t exactly look Native American. It doesn’t help that I am half Irish and Mexican. So the whiteness from the Irish side takes over A LOT. But, when I am out in the arena I some how forget that I don’t fit in and I am in a grassy field letting the sunshine all over me.
To be perfectly honest, it’s really hard to describe what exactly happens while I am dancing. It just feels good. Trust me on that! Sometimes when I was out there in the arena I tried to imagine what Pow Wows, if they had existed back then, would have looked like before the settlers took over and moved the Native Americans to reservations.
I still have my sash, Shawl AND my lovely crown from when I was a princess. Those things have a deeper meaning to me now because it was one of the last things I really did for my grandmother. I mean, I helped her out with as much as I could when she got sick with cancer. It’s just it was one of those BIG things that she had asked of me. The last thing was to be the head lady for the same Pow Wow when I was 20 or 21.
Some may say I should go back out there and dance because of how it made me feel so good. To be honest, I haven’t felt the need to go to a Pow Wow since my grandmother has passed. Mostly because I would feel so out of place. When I would go to Pow Wows it was because my grandmother went and she had her own canopy. So, I would sit with her and enjoy the music and the dancing with her.
Now that she is gone I can’t do that with her anymore. I can’t comment on the dancing or ask her to buy me Jerky or do little odd jobs for her anymore. So, the Pow Wow has lost something that used to be a significant part of the experience for me. Maybe one day in the future I’ll at least be able to check out the booths and watch some dancing as a very far outside visitor.
Well, I am off to get me some tissues. Here I thought I could write this without a teardrop! Take care folks!
I didn’t think so, and I honestly think most people don’t. Which is fine, I didn’t expect you to. What is the Kateri Circle Pow Wow Princess? Well, It is a very honorable position for a young lady to represent a certain Pow Wow for a year to help bring awareness and such to said Pow Wow.
Well, my lucky year was in 2003 I believe. I am pretty sure I was 17 when it was my turn. My grandmother was the head of the Pow Wow committee for the Kateri Circle and so I think it was pretty obvious that I would be a shoe in. Not to mention that well, they didn’t have anyone else for that year. So, I came into the picture.
I think they called me the rock and roll princess because I had Blue hair at the time. You didn’t know I had Blue hair either? Wow, you have missed a lot. I miss my Blue hair actually… But not enough to have to see the ugly Green color is leaves when it all washes away. I’ll stick with Blue-Black. BUT, I digress.
So, I was 17 years old and had Blue hair, which I later had to dye to Brown. I had to go to every single Pow Wow and Native American church thing to represent the Kateri Circle. I had to dance to every single song at the Pow wow and I had to be one of the first to enter and leave the arena for Grand Entry and closing ceremonies.
I have never considered myself to be a good dancer or anything but I wasn’t half bad though. I tried my best to make my grandmother proud. There is something that takes control when I am out there in the arena. I listen to every beat of the drum and to each note that the singers hit. I’m free. Well, I feel free at least.
Now, I never really felt like I fit in with the Pow Wow crowd because well, I don’t exactly look Native American. It doesn’t help that I am half Irish and Mexican. So the whiteness from the Irish side takes over A LOT. But, when I am out in the arena I some how forget that I don’t fit in and I am in a grassy field letting the sunshine all over me.
To be perfectly honest, it’s really hard to describe what exactly happens while I am dancing. It just feels good. Trust me on that! Sometimes when I was out there in the arena I tried to imagine what Pow Wows, if they had existed back then, would have looked like before the settlers took over and moved the Native Americans to reservations.
I still have my sash, Shawl AND my lovely crown from when I was a princess. Those things have a deeper meaning to me now because it was one of the last things I really did for my grandmother. I mean, I helped her out with as much as I could when she got sick with cancer. It’s just it was one of those BIG things that she had asked of me. The last thing was to be the head lady for the same Pow Wow when I was 20 or 21.
Some may say I should go back out there and dance because of how it made me feel so good. To be honest, I haven’t felt the need to go to a Pow Wow since my grandmother has passed. Mostly because I would feel so out of place. When I would go to Pow Wows it was because my grandmother went and she had her own canopy. So, I would sit with her and enjoy the music and the dancing with her.
Now that she is gone I can’t do that with her anymore. I can’t comment on the dancing or ask her to buy me Jerky or do little odd jobs for her anymore. So, the Pow Wow has lost something that used to be a significant part of the experience for me. Maybe one day in the future I’ll at least be able to check out the booths and watch some dancing as a very far outside visitor.
Well, I am off to get me some tissues. Here I thought I could write this without a teardrop! Take care folks!