Yuba-Sutter Pow Wow offers glimpse into Native American tribal history
Feb. 20—Luis Perez said a lot of the inventory that decorated his booth outside the Yuba-Sutter Winter Pow Wow on Saturday at the Marysville Youth and Civic Center dated back to the original location of his tribe, the Maya based out of Guatemala and much of Latin America.
There was a mask that Perez, a Sacramento resident, brought with him that came straight from Guatemala. It was the first time that Perez had brought the mask, which sat next to many other historical pieces and hand-woven articles that the Maya used on a daily basis centuries ago, Perez said.
Perhaps the oldest piece, Perez said, was a hummingbird necklace that is supposed to bring good luck to those who wear it.
Perez was one of many veteran booth holders inside and outside of the Youth and Civic Center for the 18th annual Yuba-Sutter Winter Pow Wow, which kicks off the pow wow season in Yuba-Sutter.
Event coordinator Pat Bennett explained that the Marysville Winter Pow Wow is, in part, a pre-emptive event to the more traditional Spring Pow Wow. The Spring Pow Wow is an annual, two-day event that will be held at the Yuba Community College campus in Marysville starting on June 10.
"Students and families can participate in pow wow activities, if they choose, using the skills they learned from the Winter Pow Wow," said Bennett previously.
Perez loves coming to Yuba-Sutter pow wows and tries to fit it in alongside his many other stops around the state. He said he has made it to each of the Winter Pow Wows, noting that he loves who he meets each year in Marysville.
Joining Perez and the vendors were the traditional dances and rituals that are a part of the annual pow wow schedule.
Perez said the Gourd dance typically blesses the grounds and precedes many of the other dances known to many in the Native American community as the team dance, a fun dance, the cakewalk, crow hop and round dance.
Of course, running the show each year and moving the pow wow along is Master of Ceremonies Val Shadowhawk, a resident of Northern California for 25 years after emigrating from the midwest.
Shadowhawk is a representative of four separate tribes and is very respected in the Native American community, according to veteran tribal members who frequent Yuba-Sutter each year.
Perez said he is partial to the rain dances, which are traditional at many pow wows he attends. Though Perez admits that he does not see much of the program because he is always busy in his vendor spot outside, adjacent to the kettle corn booth.
Perez tries to give his booth a different feel each year. This year in addition to the mask and hummingbird necklace, he brought with him a handful of handwoven backpacks that the Maya used for hunting and gathering centuries ago.
He also brought blankets that his people called ponchos, Perez said.
Suzie Wilson was another vendor who traveled north from the Stockton area to celebrate the latest Yuba-Sutter Pow Wow. Wilson represents the Lakota tribe in South Dakota and displayed many necklaces and bracelets at her booth — some of which take months to make, Wilson said.
Wilson remembers when the Winter Pow Wow was located on the other side of Marysville High School and was much smaller.
She loves that the pow wow continues to grow and looks forward to what will transpire with the long-running tradition in the future.
