The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Let's Dance

American Indians throw New Year's Eve party

By Michael Cronk

Dressed in their colorful tribal regalia, the children and adults dance to a rhythmic beat of drums that reverberates throughout the gymnasium.

"The drum is the heartbeat. It signifies the heartbeat of Mother Earth," says master of ceremonies Val Shadowhawk, a Cree from Solida.

"We sing and dance in the ways of our ancestors, no matter what your tribe. Dance your style, but dance awhile.''

This is a celebration welcoming the New Year--Native American style. For the last 17 years, American Indians have gathered at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale for a New Year's Eve powwow. It's a social gathering, rather than a ceremonial one, where native peoples can sing, dance, talk, visit and just have fun.

Nick Comella, who taught in a federally funded Indian Education Program in the Fremont Union High School District and Milpitas Unified School District from 1990 until his retirement in 2003, says the event was created to provide a safe environment for Indian families to celebrate on New Year's Eve.

"It's free and everyone is welcome. It's family-oriented and cultural-oriented," says Comella, a retired sales manager who is of Sicilian, Irish and Cherokee descent.

The New Year's Eve powwow is a big draw. No alcohol or drugs are allowed. There is food, such as "Indian tacos," light and fluffy fry bread topped with hamburger, beans, onions and salsa. Arts and crafts vendors display their wares in booths along the perimeter of the gym. But mostly, the event is about singing and dancing.

There are more than 570 recognized Indian tribes in the United States, according to Comella. The Sioux, Lakota, Comanche, Crow, Chippewa, Ute, Pomo, Hopi, Pawnee and Yurok are just a few. In Santa Clara County, there are more than 100 tribes.

The diversity is reflected in the music, dress and cultural traditions at the powwow, which is essentially an inter-tribal gathering.

Throughout the evening, members of drum circles pound out the beat and sing, either in the southern style or the higher-pitched northern style. The celebrants are invited to participate in the grass, fancy shawl and other traditional Indian dances.

Over the last four years, the New Year's Eve powwow has been put on by the American Indian Alliance of Santa Clara Valley. The community-based organization, which became a nonprofit in 1998, serves more than 20,000 American Indians in the county.

LaVerne Roberts, a Paiute from Nevada and the association's president, says powwows such as this are important to the Native American community.

"More than anything, it's important for Indian people to be together and share what we have with each other and have a sense of belonging,'' says Roberts. "It's a place where our people can go and celebrate their culture. The Indian people are very family oriented. In dealing with other tribes, we have what you would call an extended family."

Roberts said Native Americans are the only ethnic group in the valley that doesn't have a community center. "We're only 1 percent of the population, so we don't have the political clout that other people have."

In the 1950s, a federal relocation program spurred the migration of Native Americans from the reservations.

"The Indians ended up in urban areas. There were no Indian centers, no jobs, nothing for them,'' says Paul Kirkwood, who is a member of the Drum and Feathers music group. "This was a way for them to learn about their culture and to teach them."

Kirkwood, a retired music teacher and part Shawnee, says he became involved with Native American music while attending Cupertino High School in the early 1960s. He's been going to powwows ever since.

"We're carrying on traditions, ideas, philosophies," says Kirkwood. "We're all different tribes, but we socialize in a common way. We all get out and dance and have a good time.''

At midnight, the celebrants did a traditional circle dance, letting go of 2007 and welcoming 2008.

"In my opinion this was one of the best New Year's powwows we've ever had," says Roberts. "There was such a warm feeling of sharing. This one seemed to be special."