March 30, 2009

 

Contacts:

Inter Tribal Indian Club, 657-2182
Dan Carter, University Relations, 657-2269

 

Student-led event features Grammy-nominated drum group Blackfoot Confederacy

 

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — It’s a good thing the Billings Outlaws Sportsplex is a stout building, tethered to the ground by steel. Otherwise the music and dancing to be held there this weekend could literally raise the roof.

 

""Led by a Grammy-nominated drum group, the Montana State University Billings Inter Tribal Indian Club’s 41st annual pow-wow is set for Friday, April 3 and Saturday April 4 at the Sportsplex, 5000 Southgate Drive, just west of Geyser Park.  The pow-wow doors open Friday at 4 p.m. with the first grand entry of the weekend at 6 p.m. The event continues Saturday with registration at 11 a.m. and grand entries at noon and 6 p.m. The pow-wow closes at 10 p.m. Saturday.

 

The event is organized by students and volunteers and is the one of the largest university-sponsored powwows in the Northwest. 

 

Host Drum this year will be the 2008 Nammy award-winner and Grammy-nominated group Blackfoot Confederacy. Craig Falcon, president of the MSU Billings Inter Tribal Indian Club, and Marcus Red Thunder will serve as the emcees for the event.

 

Daily admission is $7 for adults and $12 for a weekend pass, which includes the three grand entries. Admission for youth between the ages of 6 and 13 are $5 per day or $10 for the weekend. Children ages 6 and under and MSU Billings students with a current student ID are admitted free.

 

It is an alcohol-free event and families are invited to take part in the pow-wow, which could draw thousands of participants from around the region.

 

As with pow-wows of the past, there will be a variety of competitions — Traditional, Jingle and Fancy dances, for example — for men, women, teenagers and junior dancers with prize money given to the top dancers in those categories.  This year’s event features a $1,000 winner-take-all Iron Women’s Special competition as well as a Crow Style Men’s and Women’s Special competition.

 

The Head Man Dancer this year is Dennis Beaumont, a Crow and an MSU Billings elementary education graduate, and the Head Woman Dancer is Angeline Cheek, a Lakota-Dakota elementary education student at MSU Billings.

 

For more information on the 41st annual pow-wow, contact members of the Inter Tribal Indian Club or advisor Quentin Gilham at 657-2182.