The Native American Student Coalition has only three Native American members, but that didn't stop the group from organizing the First Annual Powwow at Duke last Saturday. The event, which featured area drummers, dancers, and craft vendors, was a massive undertaking for a group with such small membership.
Besides celebrating Native American culture and art, NASC vice-president and treasurer Kelly Fayard, a junior, hoped the event would provide Native Americans greater visibility on campus. "Sometimes we seem invisible. There aren't many of us... A lot of people think there are no Natives here."
Only .35% of Duke's undergraduate population is Native American, and only three NASC members are-its president, vice-president, and incoming president, said Fayard. The group has an additional fifteen non-Native members, but the three Native American students did most of the planning for the powwow.
Trying to raise money with only three active recruiters proved a difficult task for the group. The event cost over $3500, including $1700 to bring in a group of Aztec dancers. To raise enough money for the event, NASC, like many cultural groups in need of funding, was forced to seek support from a number of sources. After receiving money from the Office of Intercultural Affairs and the Office of the President, NASC turned to Duke Student Government and Campus Council for help.
At such budget hearings, NASC's three members would, "usually give a brief explanation of the powwow, and then [answer] any questions [potential sponsors] might have," said Fayard. "It's not a very big deal, but it is very hard to try to get one of only three people to attend each one of these budget hearings. In other groups, that have executive boards of at least seven people, plus committees... they do not have as big of a problem with this as we-three people-do."
Still, despite the initial hurdles, the event proved a success for the group, and marks NASC's most ambitious undertaking to date. "Because it happened, we feel like it was a success. With three people organizing and planning the whole thing, it was successful."
The event, held in front of Baldwin Auditorium on East Campus, acted as, "a celebration of diversity, a celebration of the renewal of life," said Anna Denson, a junior and president of NASC. Denson added that, traditionally, powwows offered Native American tribes an opportunity, "to get together and show off their dancing styles, and to have a feast. It is also a time for a rekindling of friendships and a time for making new friends."
Overall, Fayard estimates that about 250 people drifted in and out during Saturday's three-hour event. One on-looker, Joseph Eaglespirit, heard about the powwow from a friend and came from Alamance County to see the festivities. Kamiyo Sawyer, a student at East Carolina University, drove in to see her sister dance and her cousin perform with Southern Sun, a North Carolinian Native American drum group.
The Native American student organization at ECU puts on a powwow each year, said Sawyer. "Because it's [Duke's] first year, this one's a little smaller... But this is good."
Fayard's only complaint was that she wished more Duke students had showed up. Although the powwow did manage to attract a number of prospective students who were visiting campus for the weekend, few current undergraduates took part in the festivities.
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