By Mike Greife,
October 28, 2016
WARRENSBURG, MO – The University of Central Missouri Center for Religious Studies
will host the second annual Trading Moon Pow Wow from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov.
5, in the UCM Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The event is free and open to
the public.
Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, this year’s pow wow will feature
additional traditional Native American dance demonstrations, performed in full traditional
regalia. The host drum for the pow wow will be provided by the Meskwaki Nation, with
all Native American dancers and drums invited to attend.
The event will provide narrated demonstrations of traditional Native American dance,
and Native American crafts and merchandise will be on display and available for purchase.
A meal for will be provided for participants at 5 p.m. in UCM’s Ellis Dining Center.
The cost is $6 per person, and the public is invited to participate.
An addition this year will be the Native American competitions. From 1-5 p.m., Native
American dancers will compete in the categories of Teen Boys Combined, Teen Girls
Combined, Hat and Boot Special and Men’s Traditional. From 6-10 p.m., dancers will
compete in the categories of Women’s Cloth, Women’s Jingle, Men’s Traditional and
Men’s Grass and Chicken.
Information booths will be available, offering information on UCM admissions, financial
aid, veterans affairs and UCM graduate studies.
According the Catherine Burris, director of the Center or Religious Studies, the pow
wow was developed to “foster awareness of area Native American culture and let the
local Native American community know that we respect and their traditional and culture.”
In conjunction with the pow wow, Brian Clearwater, adjunct instructor in Native American
studies in the Center for Religious Studies at Occidental College, Los Angeles, will
present a lecture on the Native American protests at Standing Rock and the Native
American culture and identity at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in Wood 301 on the UCM
campus. Clearwater also will be teaching an online course in Native American Religions
through the UCM Center for Religious Studies for spring semester 2017.
Support for the 2016 Trading Moon Pow Wow has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council,
a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support has been
provided by the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the Department of
Sociology, Gerontology, and Cross-Disciplinary Studies; the Department of English
and Philosophy; The Center for Religious Studies and the Department of Communication.
For more information, visit tradingmoon.wix.com/powwow, or email tradingmoon@ucmo.edu.
