MARYSVILLE It was native pride, size large, at the Marysville-Pilchuck High School gym on March 24, as bands, nations and tribes from all over Washington, Canada and several western states gathered for the fifth annual M-PHS United Native Club Powwow.
The free event included a meal and native drumming, dancing and music, with members of several different nations wearing their traditional regalia. Arena director Randy Vendiola emceed the event and smiled as different groups were practicing their chants and beats on the M-P hardwood.
Its like a social gathering look, my moms come out and my brothers come out, Vendiola said. He thinks the powwow helps native students feel good about themselves and their culture.
He got a firm second from Seilavena Williams, a member of the Lummi Nation and an M-P senior serving as activities coordinator for the United Native Club.
Its a gathering and a celebration, to spend time with friends, said Williams. Her first name is Portuguese and means lots of flowers.
Sophomore David Enick chimed in.
Its just a getting together as different tribes, Enick said. Its showing our culture.
Claudette Parazoo is a Rosebud Sioux Indian; they hail from South Dakota and she was sporting her distinctive regalia next to Marsha Reeves, an Oklahoma Choctaw who now lives on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. Parazoos name reflects the French influence from the time Europeans began settling in North America hundreds of years ago, she explained.
Powwows are more than just a dance for Reeves, though.
Its a prayer, she explained. When I dance Im praying. Its a family honoring the family. This is honoring the high school students.
Bill Davis is member of the Stolo Nation from the Frazier Valley in British Columbia, Canada who was returning from a family visit to Yakima when he heard of the M-P festival. He was adjusting an elaborate bustle made of huge feathers. They werent eagle feathers but turkey feathers airbrushed to look like the raptors clothing. His three-year-old daughter Julie was dancing on the gym floor in her own regalia with Isaac Daily, a two-year-old suitor who was a member of the Tlingit Nation in Alaska.
Meanwhile Joni Crines was adjusting the soft leather outfit on her five-year-old daughter Dana, who swayed to and fro as her brother Jonathan, eight, worked on an apple.
I love to dance, said Dana.
She is a member of the North Paiute tribe; their traditional stomping ground is in Nevada but her family is from Bellingham.