I sat in awe when a Native American, dressed in traditional regalia, walked forward and began speaking to us about his life and culture. Never in my nineteen years of life had I actually seen a Native American aside from television. Prior to that point I never had any first hand experiences with their culture, so therefore all of my opinions and thoughts were based on stereotypes I had come to absorb over the years. Therefore, he looked how I had imagined he would, but I had no clue what to expect from the person underneath the garb. Gabe Desrosiers, an Ojibway Indian, was able to convey his culture’s message through the song and dance of his people. Through his powwow examples that he was willing to share with us, I was able to add human feelings and emotions to a stereotype that began and ended with physical appearance.
Gabe Desrosiers is an Ojibway Indian who continues to spread the song and dance of the Ojibway tradition throughout the North American continent. He hails from the Lake of the Woods area in Ontario, Canada where he is the lead singer and the composer for the Ojibway drum group known as The Northern Wind Singers. Gabe and The Northern Wind Singers have traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada on the powwow circuit. In many ways Native American traditions continue to survive through the powwow.
Gabe began his presentation by describing his cultural background. Immediately he stressed the importance of women, and how they are respected greatly. Women are an important foundation in Native American life by being the bearers of life and therefore coincide with “mother earth.” Gabe mentioned that women pass the drum from creator to the tribes. This being inherently important since the drum is considered to be the heartbeat of the tribe itself. That idea provided the basis for Gabe to relate his own beginning involvement with his tribe. At the age of six he started learning about traditional dances and music. Women are given a lot of respect, more than can be seen in many cultures around the world. I was rather surprised at this because I had never previously pictured Native American women as being seen as such large contributors to their culture.
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The knowledge of traditional music is stressed at a young age since it is at the heart of the tribe and is what keeps the culture going. Gabe explained, “I didn’t have to go to a music class,” unlike popular American culture where music is usually taught at school as opposed to at home. Certain things can only be passed through generations by song, so there is a higher importance in learning music for that reason. On the same note, Gabe made a point by saying “Without language we would be lost.” His native language carries with it the importance of being able to preserve their culture, so he had no need to learn English until elementary school. He started composing music at the age of twenty, because he felt that it was god’s gift. Throughout his upbringing, music and dance had instilled in him an identity with his people.
After explaining that the basis of their culture grounded in song and dance, Gabe was able to convey the importance of ceremonies. Gabe started out by saying that he could not demonstrate sacred songs or show sacred objects because they are just that, sacred. Outsiders are not allowed to see these practices that hold religious and traditional meaning that are restricted to members of the tribe. Therefore, there is an entire aspect of Native American culture that is shut off from the rest of the world. By holding things as too sacred to share with others outside the tribe, it reinforces their identity and solidarity within the tribe. A ceremony typically opens by having the women dance to seven songs sung by the men. Once again there is a certain importance placed on women by having them dance to open the ceremony. This is kept in a sacred circle that maintains the tradition. Holding on to sacred practices creates a close bond between those in the tribe while sustaining their traditions that have suffered greatly over time.
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I found it interesting that the only way outsiders can really learn about Native Americans is through the powwow, which is open for all those interested in attending. The intertribal powwow is important in the lives of many Native Americans including Gabe. Powwows are often held around the country from June until September, where many families will go on the circuit from competition to competition. Gabe mentioned that there are professional dancers who can make a living on the powwow circuit by winning cash prizes for getting first place in competition. I was rather surprised by this fact because I thought that material awards would not be a part of a powwow. However, it makes sense that true sacred ceremonies are kept in private and hold a deeper meaning than intertribal powwows that more or less are meant to bring people together in a fun competitive atmosphere. Gabe summed up the idea of the powwow well, “Powwows are about having fun and making friends, maybe even a girlfriend.” I thought his lighthearted comment was able to convey a message to everyone that even though Native Americans are dressed in traditional garb and sing about their heritage, it is still basically just a party between family and friends.
At the heart of the powwow is the most important object, the drum. The term drum serves two meanings. One meaning is literally referring to the instrument, and the other refers to the musical group that performs. Gabe provided an example of typical beats on the hand drum. The sound of a typical drumbeat is similar to that of a heartbeat. Gabe explained that the heartbeat sound is the difference between an actual beat used in powwows and those stereotypical Indian beats played at sporting events. During Gabe’s demonstration I was amazed at the heartbeat sound. It truly was much different than the stereotypical beat that many try to portray as Native American. Among the Ojibway nations the drum is not only the heartbeat of a powwow, but also that of the tribe itself. It is explained that the Creator’s first thoughts, represented by a shimmering sound, were answered by this heartbeat that came from the earth as it was being formed. Drums are therefore thought of as having a life of their own and are treated as sacred objects. Drums are decorated with tribal colors that add to the individual uniqueness of every drum. I had never considered a single instrument to be such a symbol for a people, like the drum is to the Ojibway.
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One of the most powerful parts of the presentation was Gabe’s singing demonstration. By being able to hear him sing live, the songs conveyed a much more powerful meaning than when heard on a cd for example. I was in awe of the Native American vocal styling. It was completely different than any live performance I had ever heard. The vocables sung to the beat of a drum were unique to say the least. I was especially impressed when he demonstrated the differences between the southern style and northern style of singing. He showed a great range in his ability to sing lower southern style songs and then being able to do a high pitched northern style song. Previously I had not known that there were two main distinctions in Native American singing. Also, I enjoyed hearing the cowgirl song that he sang in English. It had a sound that reminded me of the west. I thought it was interesting that Gabe described the song as having “white words,” which I thought carried a strong meaning when described that way. He places a distinction with the songs sung by his people in his language, compared to the songs of the white culture sung in English. It’s interesting to hear the variety of songs sung at a powwow, from traditional songs to newly created songs with English words. Also, courting songs are sung to women in order to try and win their favor. Gabe displayed a certain passion for singing when he was explaining how you get tired from singing all day and jumping from drum to drum at a powwow. You could tell he enjoys every second of performing, despite the toll it takes on his voice.
I was extremely impressed by Gabe’s grass dance demonstration. He has been a grass dance champion before, and his performance was beautiful. It had a certain balance between beauty and power at the same time. Powerful yet delicate. Bells are worn on the dancer to “call the spirits.” His regalia are a significant part, with colorful feathers and fringes adding to the beauty of the dance. The grass dance is one of the oldest northern dances that has been passed from tribe to tribe, originating with the Omaha Tribe. There are a wide variety of dance competitions at the powwow, ranging from traditional dance that imitates the hunt, to the more recently created fancy dance with brilliant colors and acrobatic dancing to fast beats. It was a beautiful visual end to his presentation.
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Through Gabe’s performances and words I was able to gain a much greater understanding of Native American culture than I had prior to his visit. I think I was a little upset when he mentioned that he had cds for sale in the back, because a part of me still wanted to believe that they were a mystical group of people and not like everyone else. After seeing Gabe it was quite apparent that Native Americans are stereotyped and often dehumanized behind a veil of feathers by the mass of the population.
