KentucKy culture crEAtions By JEff/KEntucKy nAtivE AMEricAn hEritAgE MusEuM
native american cultural events educate, celebrate Powwows, festivals prove traditions are alive and well Kathy witt
“K
entucky has a rich Native American presence,” says Sarah Elizabeth Burkey, a Native American musician who lives in Kevil. “And it is not just in the history of the land and what happened here hundreds of years ago. It is alive and well in the everyday lives of people of the Commonwealth.” Kentucky observes Native American Heritage Month in November—but several events, including powwows, will have unfolded beforehand in celebration of the contributions Native Americans have made to the state’s cultural heritage. The events, which combine education and hands-on activities like tomahawk throwing, bow-andarrow and blow-gun shooting, and Indian dancing and drumming, help raise awareness and play an important role in preserving Kentucky’s Native American traditions. “Some estimates put the percentage of people in Appalachia with Native blood as high as 92 percent,” says Kenneth Phillips, a Cherokee from Corbin. “The Cherokee Trail of Tears went through the southern half of Kentucky, during which many of our ancestors slipped away and lived as white people while hiding their ancestry due to fear of being removed to the reservation.” Phillips adds, “Much of what we
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KentucKy Living • august 2010
richard blue cloud Kidd, a shawnee and native of Kentucky, teaches children how to make arrows, showing them the differences between cherokee and shawnee arrows in the process.
worth the trip call folk art, folk music, and folkways today is actually Native American originally and has been handed down by these Native ancestors who have been forgotten.” “We want to educate the public, especially the children, about true Native American culture and keep it alive—not the Hollywood stereotype,” says Jan Quigg, whose ancestors were Cherokee. Jan and her husband, Dan, organize the powwow in Richmond that takes place at Battlefield Park. Glenda McGill agrees that the events cater to kids. McGill, whose ancestry includes Cherokee, Shawnee, Delaware, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Scotch-Irish, and French, helps organize the All Nations at Westport event each year. Two kid favorites are the candy dance and the potato dance. The former is like the cakewalk at so many fairs and festivals, but with a candy grab when the drumming stops. The latter is remi-
niscent of an old childhood game, pass the potato—only with two kids holding the potato between their noses as they dance in a circle. A highlight of the Native American Heritage Museum Benefit Powwow, held in early September in Corbin, is an appearance by Emerson Begay, a well-known traditional Navajo dancer and artist, who will be Head Man Dancer. Another is the mobile museum that travels the state with its collection of war clubs, smoking pipes, arrows, jewelry, and fire-starter kit, among other artifacts. The museum’s mission is to teach about the Eastern Woodland tribes— Cherokee, Shawnee, Mohawk, and Creek are the major tribes represented—that inhabited this region when Europeans arrived. Authentic crafts and foods are staples of powwow events and might include vendors from Cherokee, Navajo, Apache, Lumbee, Shawnee, and Mohawk nations. Typically there are demonstrations of medicinal herbs,