Monday, May 10, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Haskell honors May graduates
Pow-Wow celebration brings 2,000 people
By Dan Curry
dcurry@kansan.org
Kansas staff writer
Eight men sit in lawn chairs around a rwhide drum. In the late day sun, they each take long drinks from a milk jug full of water. Slender drum sticks tipped with cotton lean against the taut drum head.
They are the members of Thunder Shield, the host drum at the Haskell Indian Nations University Commencement Pow-Wow. The host drum has paused. The other five drums put down their sticks.
So the dancing stops.
The emcee turns the microphone down, leans back and begins to gnaw on roasted corn. People in the crowd turn their attention away from the arena and begin to meander along the booths where vendors hawk Big Indian Burgers, funnel cakes and t-shirts with wolves on their fronts.
It is a rare moment at Haskell's Commencement Pow-Wow, a quiet moment, when the host drum takes a rest. The drum lies at the heart of the Pow-Wow, providing the rhythm for song, dance and ceremony.
The men play these drums to keep traditions alive, to pass on songs that have been passed on for generations.
Other reasons are simpler.
"The guys just wanted to sing, so we got a hold of a drum," said Thunder Shield leader Jeremy Shield. A Haskell alumnus.
On the drum head, Shield meticulously cuts eight piles of cash for each of the drummers present. The money has come from a dance devoted to Thunder Shield, where dancers collect money from the audience on behalf of the group.
Thunder Shield was the host drum for the Pow-Wow Friday and Saturday in the fields south of the Haskell campus. More than 2,000 people attended the two-day event.
Thunder Shield members say host drum is an honored position that the group is sometimes called upon to fill.
"We did it because (the event organizers) asked us to," Shield said. "I was taught never to refuse."
The group plays different songs for different dances, and their repertoire is extensive, Shield said. They sing the songs in a Northern style, which is at a higher pitch than Southern style.
Their style is also traditional, where no words are used, Shield said. While words can be found in contemporary Native American music, Thunder Shield uses only harmony.
"We practice once a week to keep our voices in tune," he said. "We all just come together and make one voice."
Songs frequently have three parts; a lead, a second and a tail.
Haskell Indian Nations University
The lead part will be a solo that sets up a particular melody, which the other parts will answer in chorus.
Ron Brave, a Thunder Shield Member; said the song and drum had always been part of his life.
The group practices singing and drumming each Tuesday, providing music for the New Dawn Native Dancers, a local Native American children's troupe.
"Our relatives were in the business." Brave said.
He learned to sing and drum by being close to the tradition. As a child, when a singer was missing, he would be called upon to fill the gap.
Shield said he originally learned to play the drum from his family.
"You sit in someone's chair," Brave said. "One day you're going to step up."
Shield's clan uncle would tell him to listen to the morning birds to hear a better lesson in music.
The Pow-Wow was in celebration of Haskell's graduates.
Haskell President Bob Martin said it was one of the best ceremonies he'd seen during his tenure.
Haskell graduated 122 people this year, Martin said.
- Edited by Aerica Veasey
KU Info to solve graduation qualms
Continued from page 1A
Mailen said.
Mailen said they also would keep an eye out for alcohol consumption, which is prohibited on campus.
In the case of rain, the ceremony will be postponed until 4:30 p.m. A decision will be made by noon and will be announced on local radio stations: KANU (FM 91.5), KLZR
(FM 105.9). KJHK (FM 90.7).
WIBW (AM 580). WDAF (AM 610) and KLWN (AM 1320).
The KU Informatic Center, 864-3506, is available to answer questions and a Web site, www.urc.ukans.edu/commence, has been set up to provide information and a schedule of events for Commencement weekend.
The KU Visitors Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May
22 and from noon to 3 p.m. May
23.
Regalia may be picked up at the KU Bookstore in the Kansas Union during regular business hours May 20-22, or from 8:30 a.m. until Commencement on May 23. Students who have not yet ordered their regalia should call 864-4640. There will be a $10 late fee added to the original regalia fee.
Edited by Aerica Veazey
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