Second annual Eschikagou Powwow to celebrate Chicago’s American Indian history

The colors, sounds and rhythms of a Native American powwow will fill the Midway Plaisance next month as thousands of Chicagoans gather to celebrate American Indian history and culture. People of all backgrounds are invited to the Eschikagou Powwow, which will include dancing, singing, drumming, storytelling and craft-making. The free event will be held Saturday, Sept. 22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Midway (between 59th and 60th streets) at Dorchester Ave. in Hyde Park.

At powwows, Native Americans gather to dance and socialize in a celebration of their culture and community. Indians hold powwows throughout the country all year round.

Each day, the Eschikagou Powwow will open with the "Grand Entry," a procession of dancers following American and tribal flags carried by veterans. The procession will be led by Miss Indian World, Ke Aloha Alo.

The dancing contests and singing/drumming competitions are expected to draw hundreds of top-quality performers from throughout North America. At the Indian Traders’ Market, approved vendors will sell authentic Native American crafts and food.

The Black Indian Society, an organization that helps African Americans and others with Indian heritage trace their genealogy, will also have a booth at the powwow. "Many, many African Americans and Hispanics have Native American ancestors, who are documented in letters, photographs, oral history or other evidence," said Sultan Latif, vice president of the society. "We may not have come here on the same ship, but we’re all in the same boat."

Hosted by the University of Chicago and the Chicago Park District, the Eschikagou powwow is organized by the non-profit organization Gathering of Nations. The powwow is named after the trading post Eschikagou, which later became Chicago.

Derek Mathews, a Hyde Park native and founder of Gathering of Nations, has been producing annual powwows in Albuquerque, N.M. since 1983. The Albuquerque powwow is reportedly the world’s largest, drawing over 100,000 people each year. "The Eschikagou Powwow is my way of bringing the culture I love home to Chicago," said Mathews. "It offers the opportunity for everyone to learn more about Native American culture and even seek an understanding of their own background."

This year’s powwow will mark the 40th anniversary of one of the most significant events in 20th-century Indian history–the American Indian Chicago Conference. Organized through the late Sol Tax, a University of Chicago professor in anthropology, the conference took place at the University in June of 1961.

In the early 1950s, the federal government began "terminating" tribes, no longer recognizing them as sovereign governments. Tax, a top academic expert on American Indians, was asked to make policy suggestions at this critical time, known as the "termination period."

Tax insisted that Native Americans, not he, should be consulted. He invited more than 400 representatives from 90 tribal groups to Chicago to help prepare the "Declaration of Indian Purpose," the first unified position statement on Native Americans’ relationship to the U.S. government. In celebration of their achievement, the conference participants held a powwow on the University’s Old Stagg Field.

"Tax had respect for the integrity of Native American communities during the era when the idea of the melting pot was popular,"

rry Straus, Professor in the Master of Arts Program in Social Science and a former doctoral student of Tax. "As an Indian view of Indian policy, the declaration has influenced American Indian affairs ever since."

Beginning in 1998, Straus held small annual powwows at the university as part of her class "Topics in Native America: The Powwow." In 2000, Straus brought in the Gathering of Nations to organize the event. Only when Straus and Mathews met in person did they realize they already knew each other: Straus had been Mathews’ 10th-grade history teacher at Hyde Park’s Harvard School.

The free powwow is part of the World Music Festival: Chicago 2001 and will feature Clan/destine, a Native American group known for its eclectic mix of rock, folk and reggae. The powwow will be held about 100 yards from the site where the Indian Village exhibition stood during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

For more information, visit www.gatheringofnations.com.

Note: Ample, free street parking is available on the Midway between Dorchester and Cottage Grove avenues.

Additional Contact:
Derek Mathews (773) 667-4530

Photos:

Derek Mathews, founder of Gathering of Nations and powwow organizer	Derek Mathews biography Derek Mathews is a Chicago native with American Indian and African American heritage. After graduating from the Harvard St. George School in Hyde Park, Mathews received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Santa Fe and his master’s degree from Governors State University. While at college in New Mexico, Mathews chose to settle within the Pueblo Indian and Navajo community. "In New Mexico, I was able to gain a greater understanding of my multicultural existence," he said. His wife Lita Mathews Ph.D., a Pueblo Indian, and daughter Melonie are both champion dancers and well-known throughout the Indian communities in the United States and Canada. In 1984, Mathews founded Gathering of Nations, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Native American culture. The Gathering of Nations powwow, held annually in Albuquerque, is the largest in the world. During the off-season, Mathews and his family have a traveling show promoting American Indian life and culture. Their travels have taken them across the United States and Canada and to the United Kingdom.