out dancing. The head dancers also lead the other dancers in the grand entry or parade of dancers that opens a pow wow.
The Host Drum of the pow wow is a drum group responsible for providing music for the dancers to dance to. At an Intertribal pow wow generally two or more drums are hired to be the host drums, often a Host Northern Drum and a Host Southern Drum. Each drum has a Lead Singer who runs his drum and leads his singers while singing. Host drums are responsible for singing the songs at the beginning and end of a pow wow session, generally a starting song, the grand entry song, a flag song, and a veterans or victory song to start the pow wow, and a flag song, retreat song and closing song to end the pow wow. Additionally, if a pow wow has gourd dancing, the Southern Host Drum is often the drum that sings all the gourd songs, though another drum can perform them. The host drums are often called upon to sing special songs during the pow wow.
Pow wow is normally set up as a series of large circles. The center circle is the dance arena, outside of which is a circle consisting of the MC’s table, drum groups and sitting areas for dancers and their families. Beyond these two circles for participants is often an area for spectators, while outside of all are several rings of vendor’s booths, where one can buy supplies, food, or arts and crafts.
The Pow wow begins with what is called the Grand Entry. All the dancers line up by dance style and age. Then they enter the arena while one of the host drums sings a special song. Pow Wows are full of Native American dancing, singing, educational displays, and authentic food. The pow wow is the Native American’s way of expressing their cultural heritage. Most dancers seen