The word “powwow” is thought to derive from a word in the Algonkian language used by the Narragansett Indians of the northeast. In that culture powwow, or “pauau,” referred to a shaman, or medicine man. It also referred to the shamanic rituals of healing, through visions and the application of traditional medicines, which were often accompanied by prayers, incantations, songs, and dances. These rituals often involved the senior councils of a group or nation, and sometimes every member took part. The shaman also participated in the ritual singing, dancing, and prayer that marked the seasonal cycle of Native American life, as well as expressing hopes and prayers for success (in crops, in battle, and in other matters), and celebrations of victory.

By the nineteenth century, the word had spread throughout many Native American cultures and came to mean something close to what it means today: a gathering of Native Americans, who come together to sing, dance, celebrate, share stories, and talk.

The highly social powwows that we see today are a development of the gatherings of Native American peoples of the Great Plains during the nineteenth century. As Europeans moved more and more into traditional lands where Native Americans lived, groups, tribes and whole nations formed alliances where before there had often been rivalry and enmity. Such gatherings had been part of Native American life for many centuries before Europeans ever set foot on this continent—to renew family and group ties, to heal rifts and to form alliances between different groups. But as traditional ways of life came under threat, these gatherings took on new urgency and significance. They became an expression of independence, and an assertion of identity and pride.

During the late nineteenth century, large gatherings of Native Americans were banned, and traditional dancing was forbidden by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But they continued, well beyond the reach of the authorities. When the Flathead Indians of Montana organized a powwow in celebration of the 4th of July, it was hard for the BIA to stop them. As tensions eased between Native Americans and the United States government around the turn of the last century, the U.S. eventually permitted powwows to reassume their place in the lives of Native Americans.

The powwow takes place in and around a circle, known as the arbor. A drum is placed at the center of the circle around which singers and drummers sit and perform during the powwow, particularly to accompany dancers. Dancing is especially important at powwows and is generally a focus of the event. Before the dancing begins, a holy man blesses the arbor, and it remains sacred ground for the duration of the powwow. Participants are announced from the west, and enter from the east. Spectators (who are also, in a vital way, participants) sit around the arbor, under shelters constructed from leafy branches that give shade and protection from rain. Over a wide area outside the arbor, other activities take place. Drumming contests, singing, and traditional music go on throughout the powwow, and native craftsmen and craftswomen demonstrate their skills. Stalls and booths sell traditional Native American jewelry, clothing, artwork, musical instruments, food, and other items.

In the last twenty-five years, powwows have moved off the reservations and into parks, fairgrounds and convention centers. The surge in popularity has been due not only to Native Americans renewing and rediscovering their heritage but also to increased interest among all Americans in the history of the land they inhabit. There are hundreds of powwows held in North America during “powwow season” between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and many Native Americans like to spend their summer, or part of it, following the “powwow trail” from one powwow to the next.