When I was a teen-ager growing up on an Indian Reservation in Maine our tribe started an annual Indian Day, which was similar to old-fashioned pow-wows in the West.

It was wonderful fun all day, but the thing I remember and cherish the most was when the older ladies of our tribe including Tonto’s and my grandmother, a friend called Medassin, an older woman called Susie and many others of our elders who just got together and decided on the spur of the moment to do a Penobscot Indian snake dance.

They moved so slowly and so gracefully while singing an old Penobscot song whose words I can’t recall. More and more ladies joined in and soon the entire street was participating in the snake dance.

What wonderful fun to see my heritage on display in such a magnificent way. They had drums, but most of the music was the elder women singing Ho Latta Geh or something that sounded like that.

I thought of this while looking for some Native American dances on YouTube tonight, and I was once again a care-free teenager watching Grammy and all the others entertain us with our own culture that died when they did.

It is my dream to go to the West and see and hear a real pow-wow before I die.

To a Native American the drums represent the heartbeat of Mother Earth.

The last time I heard the drum it was beating once every 30 seconds or so at the end of my mother’s funeral and then it stopped as a symbol of her heart stopping.

I hope you enjoy the selection I have made for you of these fine ladies doing a beautiful Native American dance. The wonderful dancer in white is named Claudia. Enjoy, but know this was not the type of singing our tribe did. This is Western.

Written by ~J~

2 Responses to “The Heartbeat of Mother Earth”

1. Kerri Ishimura says:

   March 25, 2007 at 10:22 pm

   I grew up in Oklahoma, 1/8th Cherokee, and attended a Pow Wow in grade school with my full blood friends.
   I took my 5 & 7 year olds back to Ok. last fall to see a Pow Wow that some friends were dancing in. My 7 yr old loved it. We filmed some of it and took photos of individual dancers and presented it to her class. We included info on the “Trail of Tears”, a little something about each of the 4-5 tribes participating in the Pow Wow and some info on each of the dances performed. The kids here in Houston - where there is no real access to American Indian culture - seemed to really enjoy it and I know I learned a lot.
2. ~J~ says:

   March 25, 2007 at 10:33 pm

   Thank you, Kerri and know I am happy you went to a couple of pow-wows and I’m envious.:”>