At the UTTC powwow, all dancers packed the arena to pose for a single photograph. Photo by Dennis Neumann/UTTC

A group photo of all dancers and singers and a special flag-raising to observe 9-11 highlighted the 47th Annual United Tribes Technical College International Powwow. The gathering was held September 9 to 11 at United Tribes Technical College’s (UTTC’s) powwow dance arena on the campus in Bismarck.

In contest competition, the drum group Young Bear from the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation won the singing contest, followed in order by Showtime, MNX, High Noon, and Battle Horse. Twenty-three drums rendered their best songs during five grand entries, intertribals, contest competitions, specials, and honorings. Six-hundred, eighteen dancers and singers participated in 27 different contest categories.

For the first time ever, all dancers and singers packed the arena to pose for a single photograph. Photographer Shane Balkowitsch of Bismarck exposed a glass-plate negative through a large format camera atop the announcer’s stand. His black and white image recalls pictures of tribal gatherings over 100 years ago. In the old-time photo the entire crowd is seen raising a hand in solidarity with Native Americans everywhere and expressing the 2016 powwow theme of “Empowerment Through Unity.”

On closing day, the powwow crowd observed the 15th anniversary of 9-11. During the grand entry flag song veterans raised a new stars and stripes on the UTTC flagpole, lowering it to half-staff for the duration of the event. Military veterans were also honored with a participatory special dance in the arbor.

A rain shower on day-one gave way to sunny days with temps reaching into the 70s and 80s. Overnight lows dipping into the mid-40s made for good camping and dancing weather. Lone Star Arena offered well-cushioned grass, courtesy of UTTC’s groundskeepers.
Tribal radio station KMHA in New Town, North Dakota, carried the action live across western North Dakota. Townsquare Media announcer Dolly Dakota (Standing Rock) reported live during Youth Day, welcoming local spectators. Receiving permission from the powwow committee to record portions of the event were video producers from Washington, DC; Los Angeles, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Berlin, Germany; and Vienna, Austria; along with in-state and local media groups. Canadian producers from the online Powwow Times made recordings of the dance contests for YouTube.

On the powwow’s closing day, 35 volunteers, including staffers and local friends of the college, served a free roast buffalo meal presented by the college cafeteria staff and A’viands Foods for over 2,000 visitors, singers, and dancers. The buffalo was donated by the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, one of the college’s governing tribes. The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation hosted a feed for about 1,000, demonstrating the tribe’s generosity and respect for tradition. Fifty-two craft vendors ringed the powwow dance arbor and 14 food vendors populated the powwow food court.

A blanket dance raised over $1,000 in cash for the ongoing gathering of water and culture protectors encamped along the Cannonball River. Representatives of the camp addressed the powwow assembly, providing a status report on their challenge against a planned oil pipeline crossing of the Missouri River immediately north of the Standing Rock Dakota/Lakota Nation.
The dynamic duo, announcers Lawrence Baker and Vince Beyl, brought energy and humor to the event. All first place dance category and singing contest winners received cash and a jacket adorned with the 2016 powwow logo, the artwork of Wallace “Butch” Thunderhawk Jr., United Tribes professor emeritus in the arts. Second through fourth place winners received cash.