The Powwow Trail -- Somewhere On The Roads Of The American West, A Way Of Life Became A Way To Make A Living

SUQUAMISH, Kitsap County - Hopping and spinning under the light of a full moon, two young "grass dancers," wearing traditional Native American regalia, diligently compete for a cash prize.

The grounds they dance upon have a rich, sacred history: Just a few blocks away, the body of Chief Seattle is buried. The words of the song they move to tell a story that has been handed down through Native American communities, generation to generation. Every detail - from the color and style of their regalia, the outfits dancers wear, to the steps and motions they use - have a significant, cultural meaning.

Except for the glow-in-the-dark neon light tube that one of the boys wears atop his head. He bought it for $2 from a vendor here, at the annual Chief Seattle Days Powwow in Suquamish, a tiny town on the Port Madison Indian Reservation. Although the light tube was worn just for fun, it's a sign that these traditional Native American social events are changing; in recent years, powwows have grown beyond cultural events for families to become a big business for organizers and vendors selling everything from Harley Davidson signature patches and hand-carved wooden flutes to pretzels and popcorn.

Even the cash prizes for dancers and drummers are taking on a growing importance. At the Mission Indian Friendship Centre Society International Pow Wow last month in Mission, B.C., drum groups competed for prizes ranging from $750 to $1,500. Dancers could win

up to $1,000. Usually, purses are raised through revenues from vendor fees, entry fees paid by dancers and raffles of items donated by vendors. If the prizes are large, they will draw more drummers and dancers - meaning more spectators and potential customers for vendors.

The prices of tables and spaces rented to sell Native and non-Native goods have doubled and tripled in some areas. Most noticeably, the types of businesses that travel along the regional and national circuits known as "The Powwow Trail" are becoming more diverse.

Twenty years ago, most vendors sold handmade items, craft supplies and food - items such as buckskin moccasins, rabbit furs and thick pieces of buttery fry bread with honey or jam. Now many powwows allow vendors to sell products just as varied as the participants and spectators. Wares for sale include silk-screened T-shirts and sweat shirts with Native American or nature prints, compact discs of flute music or powwow songs, factory-made Pendleton wool blankets with Indian designs and all sorts of trinkets and jewelry.

Now some organizers worry that powwows could become too commercialized at the expense of their original purpose. Some are calling for an end to the sale of non-Native American goods - espresso stands, palm readers, fortune tellers, hair wrapping and temporary tattoo and face-painting booths and imported goods from countries such as India, Guatemala and South Africa.

"We want our event to promote Native artists," said Michelle Sanidad, a member of the Daybreak Star Powwow committee. Those who coordinate the annual powwow think the event should focus on art instead of small businesses, she said.

But for many, regardless of what they are selling, doing business along the Powwow Trail has turned into a way to make a living.

Wearing a hip pack for a cash box last weekend, a man selling the neon light tubes worked the crowd at Chief Seattle Days and sold about 50 disposable tubes, at $2 each, within the first 20 minutes of dusk.

"It didn't used to be a business," says Roy Rando, a Montana/Arizona vendor who sells turquoise and silver jewelry, T-shirts and crafts. "Everyone used to do this as a hobby."

Vendors at powwows 30 years ago were mainly Native American elders who sold handcrafted goods, such as beaded necklaces and dance regalia, Rando said. Most people sold their crafts to keep traditions alive and to pay for supplies.

Powwows started to become big business in the 1970s when Arizona-style turquoise jewelry sales took off, Rando said.

"Now with the higher booth fees, it has to be a business," he said.

Prices for vendor space vary, but over recent years, it's steadily increased. At the Daybreak Star Powwow in Seattle's Discovery Park last month, some sellers said they paid $400 to set up booths or tables at the three-day event. Smaller powwows, such as the upcoming Back To School Indian Celebration at American Indian Heritage School in Seattle, are usually cheaper - more like $100 for two days.

"Some of the powwow committees are into selling real estate," jokes Leonard Kalb, a bead and blanket vendor who continuously travels from powwow to powwow.

Kalb follows many of the traditions he's learned from the Native American community, and barters for nearly half of his supplies. He was raised in White River, Ariz., where his family sold jewelry to tourists. He likes the free lifestyle of being a powwow vendor, where he can decide to head across the country at a moment's notice. Kalb had a regular job once that involved punching a time clock, and it simply didn't work out, he said.

Kalb sells a variety of goods that were traditionally traded between Native Americans and frontiersmen, such as blankets and strings of sparkling, glass beads. He's owned four Trading Post and Northwest Passage shops in the Puget Sound area, along with shops in Arizona and Hawaii, but has given them up because powwows can be more lucrative and fun.

Kalb usually participates in 40 or so shows a year across the United States. Sometimes, he says, he makes more money in one weekend at a powwow, than he could have made in one month at a retail shop. But sales can be unpredictable, and some vendors say they sometimes don't earn enough to pay for the costs of renting a space.

Many of the sellers, such as Marion Farr of Milwaukie, Ore., started making Native American crafts as a hobby, and their businesses grew from there.

Farr and her husband, Gary, own PaleFace Creations, a traveling business that sells handcrafted spider web-like wall hangings called "dreamcatchers," believed to shield people from bad dreams; mandalas, medicine wheels, figurines, hemp bracelets, silver jewelry and medicine bags.

Two or three times a month, the Farrs and their teenage daughter pack up their 27-foot-long school bus that has been remodeled into a camper and travel up to 12 hours to Northwest powwows, craft fairs and holiday bazaars.

When Gary Farr retires in a few years, the couple plans to hit the national circuit - working at powwows in Oklahoma, Montana and the Dakotas, in addition to the Northwest, Southwest and East Coast.

Much like "carnies," or game operators who travel to various carnivals, many powwow vendors share close working relationships. They relieve each other for breaks, help set up or tear down each other's stands. They often trade merchandise or craft secrets. Sometimes, they open up their homes to vendors, singers and dancers if a powwow is in their hometown.

When they're not selling, vendors are usually making more.

Linda and Ken Patrick of Camp Union, near Seabeck, Kitsap County, , sell "Little Red Hen's Kitchen" homemade breads and jellies. Most of the recipes Linda uses are out of old cookbooks, but some of the low-sugar recipes were passed down from her mother and grandmother. She usually ends up cooking a batch or two of bread and jelly each week.

A Native American couple, the Patricks have created unique names for their jellies, such as "Trail of Tears Jalapeno" and "Navajo Sunset Peach Pineapple."

As powwows become more commercialized, there are a few movements to regain the "Native-only" goods such as items that are used in traditional Native American ceremonies - natural tobacco, sweet grass braids, sage, powwow regalia and natural medicines such as bitterroot, which is chewed to heal sore throats.

"In the past, there have been some efforts to have powwows that are predominantly American Indian (crafts/goods)," said Apache tribal member Pauline Escudero Shafer, an anthropology graduate student at the University of Washington and staff worker at UW's American Indian Studies Center.

"It's pretty much up to the individual powwow organizers, whether they want to have tradition or nontraditional vendors," she said. "They know what type of people are going to attend their powwows, and what's popular there."

Next year, the Daybreak Star Powwow committee will require vendors to provide samples of their works to a jury before they can rent spaces, a spokeswoman said. The committee is trying to weed out vendorswho don't produce their goods and doesn't sell Native-style items. It's looking into requiring that vendors sell only handcrafted, not manufactured, items, with the exception of T-shirts and a few other items.

Many powwow committees already prohibit foreign-made Native-style goods, such as Indian beaded bags and decorative mini-war bonnets that are made in China.

Most of the powwows on the Yakama Indian Nation prohibit nontraditional items, said Preston Harrison, a coordinator for the tribe's economic development office.

Groups made up of Yakama tribal members who want to sponsor a powwow make up their own rules as to what they'll allow at the events. Some allow only Native American vendors; others only allow Native-style goods that are hand-crafted.

Personally, Harrison doesn't think that Yakama tribal members will go too far beyond "carnival food" when it comes to nontraditional items at their powwows. Tribal members take pride in their culture, and staying close to traditional guidelines will retain it, he said.

But many think that the diversity of vendors is just as important as maintaining the integrity of traditional Native American-style goods.

Kalb remembers a vendor who once went on the Powwow Trail selling Cajun-style food. The meals were so delicious, people would line up as soon as the booth opened, he said.

Everybody loves fry bread and Indian tacos, but they get tiring seven days a week, 52 weeks a year to participants and vendors, Kalb said. If there's an espresso stand at a powwow, you can bet he'll be first in line.

Lisa Pemberton-Butler's phone message number is 206-464-2342. Her e-mail address is:

lpem-new@seatimes.com

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Washington is home to more than two dozen Native American .

tribes, many of which host yearly powwows. Following are a few .

upcoming powwows, with numbers to call for specific dates and .

directions: .

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-- The Puyallup Tribe Pow-wow, Aug. 29-31 on the Tribal .

Administration Grounds in Puyallup, will feature dancing and .

drumming competitions, princess and warrior contests and a salmon .

bake (253-597-6200, ext. 438). .

.

-- "Wisdom of the Elders Teaching Our Youth" will be the theme .

of The Back to School Powwow, at the Indian Heritage School in .

Seattle Sept. 5 and 6. This traditional (non-competitive) powwow .

will feature arts and crafts booths, and dancing events including a .

youth dance (206-725-8830). .

.

-- The 1997 Salmon Homecoming in Seattle the weekend of Sept.

12 will feature a powwow on Piers 62 and 63 in addition to a salmon .

welcoming ceremony and educational activities for children .

(206-386-4315).