MONDAY,APRIL 15,2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Annual powwow showcases culture on KU campus
By Leah Shaffer Kansan staff writer
The sounds of pounding drums and jingling balls filled Anschutz Sports Pavilion Saturday night when about 500 spectators and dancers from more than 50 Native-American tribes gathered to participate in the annual KU First Nations Student Association spring powwow.
the powwow began with the grand
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
Oke-Twisha Roberts, a three year old houp dancer from Shawnee, Okla. dances with her houps to entertain the crowd. Roberts has competed in houp dancing at the world level.
Michael Begay president of First Nations
"It's more of a social gathering for some. It's mostly to keep everyone's heritage together."
Members of the Choctaw tribe play a song for the women's traditional dance competition portion of the powwow. Women and men competed in different competitions divided by age, dance and dress style.
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
entry, as dancers from each tribe gathered in a circle, representing a circle of life. Little toddlers, dressed in colorful outfits, mingled with older dancers wearing native attire.
After the grand entry, different categories of dances were performed by the dancers, including a women's jingle dress dance and an assortment of traditional dances and songs of the Tlingit tribe of Alaska.
Michael Begay, president of First Nations and a member of the Dine (Navajo) tribe, said the powwow wasn't just a showcase of dancing, drums and singing.
"It's more of a social gathering for some. It's mostly to keep everyone's heritage together." Begay said.
In the past, the powwow had been held on the campus of Haskell Indian Nations University, but Begay said he was glad it was at KU this year.
"We like to keep it on campus. Our main objective is to bring our own culture to the University of Kansas," he said.
Juliane Reitzig, Frankfurt, Germany. senior, went to the powwow to get a taste of Native-American culture.
"I'm from Germany, so this is something totally new," she said. "The rhythm really gets you. The repeating of the drums just gets into your body. It's hard to explain."
Michael Stewart, Eagleton, Okla., graduate student, said the importance of powwows had increased in recent decades.
"You mention powwow and lots of native people prick their ears up," Stewart said. "It's like saying Super Bowl."
Contact Shaffer at lahffer@kansan.com.
This story was edited by Brandon Stinnett.
Robin Banks belts out her version of "Big Spender." Banks was one of several acts who entertained at the annual "Brown Bag Drag" Friday in front of the Kansas Union.
DRAG SHOW
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
She said the diverse crowd of people proved that there was a lot of support for the gay community.
But five protesters from Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church held up anti-gay signs across the street and left about halfway through the show. Anticipating the protesters, Queers and Allies had been running a Donate-Against-Hate-A-Thon all week. Donors pledged money to Queers and Allies for every minute that an anti-gay protester attended
an event. the amount of money raised had not yet been tallied.
"We are doing our part to piss off the radical right," said Travis Ashmore, Chapman sophomore, in response to the anti-gay slogans.
People crowded together to get a glimpse of the diverse group of drag queens, including Aurora, Lonestar and Robin Banks. Banks performed to "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" while stuffing tip money from the crowd into her glittery linerie.
Miss Flo joked with the crowd and even teased Richard Johnson, dean of students, who watched from a dis-
Along with the professional drag queens, a group of female students calling themselves KY dressed up as boy band N'Sync and performed the group's signature song "Bye, Bye, Bye."
"We just thought it would be fun to do a spoof on the boy bands." said Caitlin Giddings, Prairie Village senior, who performed in group.
Tina Warinner, Overland Park senior, was excited that her mother came to watch her perform in KY.
"My mom's become more and more
open minded. I think its the first time she's seen anything like this," Warinner said.
Miss Flo commended the mothers for supporting their daughters.
"Scream for all of our moms," she yelled, and the audience cheered.
Warinner said that it was the first time KY had performed as a group, and she considered it a success.
"We got booked for some things in the future, so I think we're going to be expanding," she said.
Contact Shaffer at lshaffer@kansan.com. This story was edited by Eve Lamborn.
LISTSERV
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
"That came from a recommendation from the celebrations task force." Bretz said. "It was an all-University committee whose sole purpose was to make sure the University got through the tournament. The focus was to keep campus as safe as possible. That's a once a year occurrence."
The provost's office receives at least three or four requests a week to use the listserv, Bretz said.
"We're not making any statement about the validity of the issue by saying the student list cannot be used for this purpose," she said. "We support what the students are trying to do to raise awareness about the importance of funding for this University."
Sarah Hoskinson, Burton senior and CLAS senator, said the listserv belonged to the students. She said the rally would pressure the Legislature to adequately fund education.
"We've been told in the past by the KU administration that our anger and our displeasure should be directed at the state legislature," she said, "but for some reason, the University isn't supporting us in doing that."
Bretz said the use of Student-L was not related to the University's support of the issue.
"I want to strongly dispute any allegation that we're biased against a concerted effort to get funding for the University." Bretz said. "We'd be happy to help with this, but we haven't been asked. There are other media to use. We don't always use Student-L."
Bretz said University Relations would provide other ways to distribute information about the rally to students other than mass e-mail.
The rally will be at noon in front of the State Capitol Building, 10th and Jackson streets in Topeka.
Free buses, paid for by Student Senate and Coca Cola, will leave the Kansas Union at 10 and 11 a.m. Thursday.
Contact Keeeser at kreeeser@kanansu.com. This story was edited by Jenna Goepert.
WANTED:
A STUDENT FOR THE POSITION OF
TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR
APPLY:
STUDENT SENATE OFFICE
(410 KANSAS UNION)
DUE: APRIL 17,2002 BY 5 P.M.
- Position begins April 30,2002
- 20 hours per week @ $5.50-$7.00/hr.
- Job Duties: Responsible for daily operations of the KU on Wheels bus service,Lift Van,and Safe Ride. This includes providing information for riders, distributing bus passes, planning of route changes handling complaints and bus pass refunds,and serving on transportation committees.
QUESTIONS: MIKE APPLEBY 864-4644