EVERETT – Dozens of American Indian dancers from as far away as Montana will compete today at the 17th annual Hibulb Powwow at Everett Community College.
“Usually they’ll come from Canada, or around Spokane, but Montana?” said Paula Blair, an adviser for the 1st Nations Students Club, which organizes the event.
“This powwow is growing in popularity,” Blair said.
As many as 100 drummers and dancers will parade into the school’s Sports and Fitness Center at 1 p.m. to kick off a day of competition.
From the youngest American Indians in pull-up diapers to tribal elders who share ancient traditions, the dancers will twist and shake for cash prizes of up to $100.
Each participant in the Tiny Tots division will win $1, Blair said.
Girls and young women will compete to become junior and senior princesses to represent the Hibulb Powwow at American Indian events around the country.
The powwow is named for a Snohomish village that once existed where the college now stands. As pioneers settled into what became Everett, the village was wiped out. The American Indians who lived there died or were forced to move to Indian reservations.
The powwow honors the American Indian traditions that once dominated this region.
The powwow lasts just one day and is quite small compared with the multi-day events that draw thousands of dancers in the Midwest, said Blair, an Oglala Sioux tribal member from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Contestants like the intimacy of the Hibulb Powwow, so it’s growing in popularity, she said.
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe sponsored the powwow through a $5,000 gift, Blair said.
Everyone is invited to the free powwow. Vendors will be selling food and gifts.
Powwow
The Hibulb Powwow will begin at 1 p.m. today at the Sports and Fitness Center at Everett Community College at the corner of 13th Street and Rockefeller Avenue in Everett.
The grand entry featuring winning dancers will begin at 7 p.m. There will be dancing, drumming and other events throughout the day, as well as vendors offering artwork and food. Everyone is invited to the free event.
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