Schemitzun 2013

[alanajoli]

Yesterday, Bug and I went to Schemitzun -- the Green Corn Festival Powwow at the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (with busses transporting us from Foxwoods Casino). It's been about eight years since I went, and some of those years the powwow was cancelled due to the economy. It's much smaller now that I remember it being before, but Bug and I still had a great time. Much to my dismay, she does not like fry bread yet. This is disappointing, but I can hope she'll acquire a taste for it in the future.


Photo by Abigail Pheiffer of tiny tot dancer Chaske Hill, Schemitzun 2012

We made it in time for Grand Entry, much to my surprise, as we were there forty minutes after it was supposed to start. It's been a while since my world ran on "Indian Time," as they told me to call it when I worked at Ziibiwing Center, but it was comforting to be back at an event where punctuality wasn't the most important thing. I talked to Bug about jingle dresses and grass dancers and fancy shawls; we had fresh strawberry lemonade complete with real strawberries and I had an Indian Taco. We got up close to the drums so we could watch them play, and we saw the tiny tots (dancers under six) make their grabs for candy in the Candy Quest Dance. All kids, even the ones who aren't registered, are allowed in that dance, so next year we'll give it a try.

So we had a great time, and though I'm a little nostalgic for the huge event that Schemitzun used to be, with an indoor arena for the dancers and a rodeo on another part of the grounds, I'm mostly curious if anyone has written up a history of the powwow. And if they haven't, I wonder if there's a market for a piece like that if I decided to do the research on my own...

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lovely time, even if it's now smaller than it once was. And I'm sure there'd be a market for the article. One place you might consider--I know this is going to sound unlikely, but--is Communities and Banking magazine. It's a really wonderful magazine devoted to supporting and empowering lower- and middle-income communities in New England. It runs articles on all sorts of subjects--immigrant communities and how they're doing, elder care in rural Vermont, early childhood education in cities like Springfield, food deserts in places like New Haven, reintegration of former inmates into the community, etc. And they've done articles on Native American economic development, etc., in the region, too. If you were to look at the economics of the powwow and what it means for the community, I think you'd have a sure-fire winner. Also, I know the editor :-)

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, thanks for the tip! I'm going to start digging around to see if there's already been something done, but I think the economics -- and the downsizing -- of the powwow would actually be an important angle to cover. I've got several other projects on my plate right now, but I definitely want to pursue this!