Circle the Bluffs Powwow bringing Native American traditions to the community (2024)

The Circle of the Bluffs Powwow will return to the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering on Saturday, June 29.

The powwow was held annually for many years, eventually making its home at the Legacy of the Plains Museum near the Scotts Bluff National Monument.

The powwow was last held in the community in 2017. As the Native American community took precautions due to the pandemic and other factors, it was on hiatus, but Jina Red Nest, who leads the powwow organization, said that the Native American community was honored to be invited to once again host the event.

It’s an important event for the Native American community, and the community at large, she said.

“We’re sharing our culture, the dancing, the singing and the celebration of life,” Red Nest said.

Kelly Looking Horse, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, will serve as emcee of the powwow. The Circle of the Bluffs Powwow is an event he tries to support, which includes bringing his own family.

“I’ve been helping out with the powwow for several years,” Looking Horse said, saying that he lived in Scottsbluff in the 1970s and 1980s and that history, as well as his relationship with Red Nest and her husband, Edison, spurs his dedication to the event. “My heart is there in Scottsbluff, with the Indian community.”

With a lack of resources and other events for the Native American community in the area, Looking Horse said, the Circle the Bluffs Powwow is an important way for the community to share its culture and educate others about their traditions, dances and music.

“We’re hoping that this grows each year, where we can get to a point where it’s two to three days and we can have other events and activities to bring to the community,” he said, noting that this year is a rebuilding year for the powwow.

Activities at the powwow will begin at 10 a.m., with an opening prayer and introduction. Looking Horse described it as a meet and greet-type period, where dancers and others gather to see who is in attendance and reunite, before activities get rolling at noon with the grand entry. The grand entry is a parade of dancers led into the round arena by elders and carrying tribes flags representing those in attendance. The U.S. flag and the state flag will be among those carried by an honor guard, Looking House explained.

Competitive dancing will begin, where dancers perform Native American dances such as traditional, fancy, jingle and grass dances in men, women and youth categories.

“We will for sure have dancers from South Dakota, probably Nebraska and maybe Wyoming and Colorado,” Red Nest said.

As emcee, Looking Horse will explain the dances and other traditions to the attendees. Dancers are competing for small prizes, though at the Circle of the Bluffs Powwow, Looking Horse said, it’s more about the celebrating of the Native American culture, rather than the prize money.

“Times have changed,” Looking Horse said. “People are getting behind us, allowing us and helping us to express ourselves and our culture in singing, the social dancing and all of that. It’s a family event, we’re asking people to bring their children, to come and listen, to see, so we can build those relationships.”

A ceremony to recognize local graduates will be held at 2 p.m.

Red Nest explained that during the ceremony, boys are given a gift of an eagle feather and girls are given a gift of an eagle plume. For Native Americans, the eagle and its feathers is a highly revered, representing virtues such as strength, courage and wisdom, among others.

Looking Horse explained the tradition of recognizing graduates.

“We want to recognize that positive achievement that our graduates have made,” he said, saying it was especially important to highlight their accomplishment in accordance with Lakota tradition of a song, a prayer and the presentation of the feathers or plumes. “It really encourages them (the graduates) to carry on and do more, like going to college, and that all of us in the community gather together to support these individuals.”

A supper break, with fun games for children will be held at 4 p.m. Games will include a Native American version of musical chairs, animal calls and other activities, Looking Horse said. Dancing will resume at 6 p.m., with another grand entry at 6 p.m. Social dancing and other dancing and honor ceremonies will be held beginning at 8 p.m.

There will also be some vendors on site, though details were still being finalized, Red Nest said. People are encouraged to bring their own seating and umbrellas or other shade tents.

There is no admission fee to attend the powwow, which will be held behind the Legacy of the Plains Museum. There is admission to visit the museum and tour its exhibits.