Soap Lake Powwow is a cultural education as well as a celebration

SOAP LAKE — Smokiam Park came alive with dance and drum, smiles and laughter. It was a true blending of culture from past and present. Native Americans and non-natives came together to learn and experience a piece of history.

The fourth annual Soap Lake Powwow marked the return of the horse parade after a 45-year absence. A dozen mounted riders dressed in regalia brought their decorated horses into the nearby parking lot after the parade. An energy began to build as several riders whooped a top prancing mounts. In the distance, the lake known for its healing waters sparkled majestically in the background.

As temperatures moved closer to triple digits in the noonday sun, one young girl dressed in a beautiful deer skin dress with spectacular beadwork looked off to the lake and said, “Maybe we could go swimming later?”

Organizer Faran Sohappy, Yakama Nation, talked of the importance of the powwow and passing down the traditions, culture and language to the younger generation. So much of Native American history has been carried down from one generation to the other, he said. Powwows are just one way to carry on dance and songs, as well as gather with members of other Native American nations.

To the non-natives it was a way to learn and respect the people whose ancestors used to camp and live in the ancestral lands near the healing waters. Master of ceremonies Mike Sanchez explained proper powwow protocol, where the audience was allowed and not allowed, what is considered sacred, better still, what was considered disrespectful.

“Please before you photograph or video any of the dancers ask them for permission first,” he informed the audience.

It was a learning process, not only for the Native American passing down their culture to the young ones, but it was also an opportunity to explain ways of life that are many times left out of the history books. The audience was respectful, observant and appreciative as they recognized the cultural celebration known as the powwow.

As in all powwow tradition, a tribal elder offered a prayer of thanks to be able to return to the time-honored land of the Smokiam, for the dancers and the people. Next they honored the veterans, the men and women who served their country – warriors of all race and cultural background. Tim Brooks, a Vietnam veteran, brought in the American Flag, leading the grand entry procession with fellow ’Nam vet Lenny Friedlander, who had the honor of carrying the Eagle Staff.

The dancers who followed displayed cultural ties. Some mimicked the motion of animals in their dance, others the motion of the grass. The men’s traditional dancers brought forward the age old dance of distant past. The younger generations brought the energy of the jingle dance, the fancy shawl and the fancy dancers. The tiny tots, the life’s blood of the Seventh Generation, bounced around and tried to remember what they were taught: when all else fails, just jump-step like the kid next to you. They always bring a smile to the crowd.

It was a day to honor past ties to present lives, a day where it truly was a gathering of the tribes, both Native American and non-native. It was a good day to hear the heartbeat of the Mother as the drums pounded on the shores of Smokiam.

And maybe as the young one suggested, it was a good day to go swimming.