PVT FILE PHOTO Dancers in a previous Pahrump powwow at Petrack Park amid their finery. Advertisement

The ninth annual Pahrump Social Powwow is expected to attract a bigger crowd this year, as a competitive event.

Local organizer Paula Elefante said there will be $7,000 in prize money available to the dancers. The powwow will be staged from Friday night through Sunday at Petrack Park.

The reputation of the growing Pahrump powwow is also getting out. While handing out fliers at the Las Vegas Veterans Intertribal Powwow last weekend, Elefante said numerous participants remarked they have heard about the Pahrump powwow.

Emcee Saginaw Grant, from Los Angeles, said it will be his first time as master of ceremonies in Pahrump. Grant said he was the emcee at the first powwow held in downtown Los Angeles recently.

The dancing and singing have a significance, not just a repetitive-sounding tribal yell. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a powwow as "a North American Indian ceremony as for victory in war."

"It's a spiritual thing, getting acquainted. We all know each other, whether we come from the same tribe or not," Grant said. "It's just reconnecting with my grandpas and my grandmas because they danced to the same songs and did the same dances we do."

"It's a spiritual fulfillment to me because it renews my spirituality and renews my strength to live in this society we live in today. There's so much stress that we live in today. That's something I don't have in my life is stress because I know how to live without it," he said.

Each day the powwow begins with the grand entry. That's scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Friday, and at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Everyone is asked to stand as the flags are brought into the arena, which can include the U.S. flag, tribal flags, even the prisoner of war flag along with eagle staffs of various tribes. They are usually carried by veterans, who are recognized during the powwow.

Members of the audience are asked not to take photographs during the opening prayer, which begins each day of festivities. Alcohol and drugs are forbidden on the grounds. The music and dancing stop if an Eagle feather falls on the ground.

During some powwows the public is invited to dance clockwise in the sacred circle, whether they are Indian or not.

"I'll be doing that too. That's part of what it's all about. It doesn't belong to us, it belongs to everybody," Grant said.

The Friday event will last until 9 p.m. But Saturday the events go on from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sunday the schedule runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Intertribal dances are set to take place at 11:35 a.m. Saturday, followed by a tiny tot contest at 12:30 p.m., those for dancers 3 to 5. A golden age competition is available to dancers 50 years and above after that, followed by junior and teens contest.

The Aztec dancers will return again this year, with their own special kind of entertainment.

The Sunday lineup includes round dance songs, a men's and women's contest, intertribal dancing, any tie-breakers and more intertribal dances.

The Northern host drum is Bear Wolf, of Victorville, Calif. The Southern host drum is White Cloud.

The spiritual leader will be Leroy Spotted Eagle from the Las Vegas Veterans Paiute Organization.

The audience and dancers can dine on barbecue and Mexican food served up by vendors as well as Indian tacos and fry bread. There will be arts and crafts, service organizations and Indian tepees on the grounds.

A variety of dance styles will be performed. The fancy dance, originated as a fancy war dance in Oklahoma, features dancers wearing large, fancy, feather bundles.

The grass dance was originally a warrior society dance typical to groups like the Omaha tribe. Before a dance could be held on the prairie the grass had to get stomped. Afterwards dancers tied grass to their outfit.

Women can include the jingle dance in their routine. It originated when a medicine man's grand daughter became very ill. In a dream his spirit guides told him to make a jingle dress for her and she was cured. The jingle sound is made from rolled-up lids of snuff cans hung with ribbons from their dresses.

The ladies fancy shawl dance originated near the Canadian border as well. Women dancers wear the shawls over their shoulders and dance jumping around, mimicking butterflies.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, when the dancers retreat the flags, the event will be over again for another year.