Grand Entry Tradition Essay

Traditions, Rituals and Symbols Grand Entry, one of the events I mentioned, is perhaps the biggest event of the powwow. Grand Entry marks the beginning of the powwow, and is when flags are brought in. As Grand Entry started, the announcer asked the audience to stand, and a Native American man entered, followed by military personnel carrying the flag of the United States and the flag of the State of Utah. Behind the military personnel were many dancers, who followed each other in a line while dancing to the songs being played by a drum circle. After a few minutes of dancing had transpired, the everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the announcer offered a prayer for blessings throughout the powwow. Succeeding this, a few dancers moved the bells that were attached to them, and proceeded to dance for a few more minutes. At the conclusion of the dancing, the audience was allowed to sit down and clap for the performance before the announcer moved on to other matters such as introducing top performers and giving instructions for the first competition. This event can be seen as an opportunity for Native Americans to celebrate their cultural heritage while …show more content…
Through powwows, people come together to participate in traditional dancing and music, with the hope of winning a prize to contribute to some personal desire. On the one hand, many aspects are similar to the mainstream American culture. One case that illustrates this is the tradition of giveaways. Dance and music competitions in mainstream American culture also traditionally offer prizes as an award for doing well, whether the prize be a trophy, money, or a number of other objects. Many procedures of a powwow and mainstream American competitions are also similar, such as beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance, or asserting a major influence on the respective cultures, as ‘competitions’ like football do in mainstream