The president and treasurer of the Louisiana Indian Heritage Association Annual Fall Powwow said Saturday they were amazed that a November proposition to fund the purchase of Lamar-Dixon Expo Center by Ascension Parish failed.
The 42nd annual event held over the weekend drew a “very good turnout” to the Trade Mart building this weekend, according to association President Alisa DeSoto.
“We have dancers from Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska,” she said.
The powwow was held outdoors at a campground in Robert until last spring when it moved successfully to Lamar-Dixon, DeSoto said. “If Lamar-Dixon closes we will have to find another place.”
Parish President Tommy Martinez last month said he will close the expo center gates on June 30, 2009.
The powwow is set to return next spring, treasurer Deb Milam said, but after that is planning to relocate.
“We would really like to return in the fall,” Milam said. “This is just such a fantastic facility, I don’t see how they can stand to lose it.”
The powwow featured numerous exhibit booths for the sale of Native American jewelry, clothing and crafts.
At one booth sat award-winning actress Irene Ballard, best known for voicing Pocahontas an serving as the character’s physical model in the animated Disney film of the same name. She was on her second trip to Louisiana, having appeared at a powwow in Marksville previously.
Bedard has made 29 movies, including director Terrence Malick’s “The New World,” and she will appear in Malick’s upcoming “Tree of Life,” starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
Bedard smiled Saturday when asked what question she was most often asked when traveling to powwows and other events.
“That would be, ‘Are you Pocohantas?’” she said.
Bedard and her husband, indi musician Deni Wilson, performed a blend of native rock and techno beat sounds at the powwow.
At another booth, Laretta Weaver and Gallasneed Roll from McIntosh, Ala., sold custom-made regalia and moccasins and silver and turquoise beadwork.
Weaver has been involved with the association since 1983. She said the Lamar-Dixon indoor facility was a lot nicer for the dancers because they were protected from rain, and the expensive costumes did not get dirty as much.
Todd Johnston, a Choctaw Indian and the powwow head dancer, stood by a Weaver’s booth, while waiting to perform in the Trade Mart arena with about 50 other dancers.
“Indoors is a lot nicer,” he said. “I like it either way. It is about getting together with friends you haven’t seen since last year.”
The fall powwow was partially funded by a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and is in part supported by funds from the Louisiana State Arts Council and the Louisiana Division of the Arts.
The event began at daybreak Friday with a flag raising, and finished at 5 p.m. Sunday with a Grand Entry and Intertribal dancing and the announcement of dance winners.
The spring powwow at Lamar-Dixon will feature a Children’s Day with field trips, Milam said.
“Children really respond to Indian culture,” she said. “One of our primary goals is to share Native American culture with everyone.”
The association plans to contact Ascension Parish schools and invite children to participate during Children’s Day.
So much has been lost in the Indian culture, even by the natives, that the powwows serve as a means to reintroduce Native Americans to their history.
A lot of people initially learn about their Native American heritage from the powwows, according to Milam.
Full-blooded Indians have found their roots through the association and its powwows, Milam said.
