I was surprised to hear that there are pow wows and culture clubs in Europe. Sis was showing me some pictures and also video posted on youtube. This was a suprise to me. Has anyone ever attended one of these events ? I read that they follow the teaching of the Lakota Souix. When and how did this begin ? What is your opinion ?

I read about a german group like this, and how they study Native style beadwork and even make regalia. I think it might be a little bit interesting, a little bit weird and a little bit disconcerting.

Some people say that European powwows began when Native people in the military serving in Europe began to coordinate powwows and other cultural celebrations. These of course were open to the public and Europeans wanted to learn more about our true culture than the text books and movies available at the time would portray, so it just sort of took off from there. All of the social rules and arena protocols most of us grew up with and learned over many years, are at best difficult to summarize in a single blurb or list. Websites that offer information on powwow traditions tend to get lengthy (I'm still working on mine) and it's all a bit much for newcomers to take in all at once. We also send a lot of mixed signals to guests, such as the invitation to come out and dance intertribals and friendship dances along with relatively strict rules about anyone entering the dance area any other time. Then of course there are all the rules about what is sacred and what is not and they all come from different tribes; the host tribe of any given powwow tends to have the right to assert their rules as the standard for the day since they are the ones lending the use of their facilities and footing the bill for the celebration: who is the "host" tribe of a European powwow and who is to determine what is "sacred" and by what historical tradition standard is such a determination made? Here in America, if spotted eagle feathers are sacred and owl feathers taboo to one people but not necessarily to another, which tradition "goes" in Europe? These are some of the wrenches that drop into the machine when you try to export our culture to other places. Things just stop making sense and it all reduces down to a show for entertainment.

My drum group traveled to Germany and France to perform for the Military a couple years and yes a few so called Eurindians came up to them and shared they follow the native culture over there. I dont know who started it all over there but the people are white as can be all dressed up in their eurnative regalia singing their own songs, telling their own stories to the dances and I dont know where they get their history of their culture. But Yes my bro's have been exposed to it. I do know that their are a lot of native people that live abroad and may have exploited our ways to the europeans. That is just my guess but I have heard and seen there ways and It in no way compares to what we have and uphold to teach and carry on for our own people here.

Very interesting. I lived in Germany in the early 80's for 5 years while with the military. I never had heard of the Eurindians or their culture. I heard that this came about in the 1990's. I was unable to attend any pow wow"s there . We were too busy training. A dine' friend of mine in our unit had a hand drum with him and we would sing and have our own little mini pow wow. Those were the days long ago, Ansbach, Illesiem and Crailsiem W Germany (when there was E and W Germany)

I seen a video of one, The dance was supped to be a sneek up.Because you can hear the drummers Singing, But the dancers look like they where running clear across the field,like nothing I ever seen before.

Huh, I'm gonna look for that on youtube, 'cause sneakup is one of my fav's. I hope I can handle it.

That first one ... so little variation in the steps you can just tell most of the dancers learned from the same person or at the same seminar. Looks like something in German on a banner in the background?

The second one ... a slideshow with a modern recording, sad song with some Sioux elder voiceover, is exactly what perpetuates the stereotypes people have of us -- dancers just out there having fun are really badly misinterpreted as doing something ceremonial and religious -- and is an attraction for people who think we have a "plight" and that we have to be felt sorry for to band around us like we're the little picked on kid on the playground who needs defending. You know the types. They stick their arm out to warmly pat your elbow as if to apologize for "everything" and expect you to break down into tears with them at the giant weight just lifted off everyone's shoulders, when in reality you just look at them and say, "What the hell, weirdo?"