page_title: Pow wow
section_title: Dances
hierarchical_section_title: Pow wow / The event / Dances
caption_attribution_description: A boy in Grass Dance regalia, Spokane Pow Wow, 2007
context_page_description: A pow wow is a social gathering held by many Native American communities. A modern pow wow is a specific type of event for Native American people to meet and dance, sing, socialize, and honor their cultures. Pow wows may be private or public. There is generally a dancing competition, with many types of traditional dances, music and regalia, often with significant prize money awarded. Pow wows vary in length from a one-day event, to major pow wows called for a special occasion which can be up to one week long.
  In popular culture, such as older Western movies, the term has also been used to describe any gathering of Native Americans, or to refer to any type of meeting, such as among military personnel.
context_section_description: The styles and types of dances at a pow wow are descended from the traditions of the Great Plains nations of Canada and the United States. Besides those for the opening and closing of a pow wow session, the most common is the intertribal, where a Drum will sing a song and anyone who wants to can come and dance.  Similar dances are the round dance; crow hop when performed by a northern drum or a horse stealing song by a southern drum; there is also "double beat", "sneakup" and, for Women's Traditional and Jingle, "sidestep". Each of these songs have a different step to be used during them, but are open for dancers of any style.
  In addition to the open dances, contest dances for a particular style and age group are often held, with the top winners receiving a cash prize. To compete in a contest, the dancer must be in regalia appropriate for the competition. Larger pow wows have more specific categories. The dance categories vary somewhat by region, but general categories are as follows:
caption: A boy in Grass Dance regalia, Spokane, WA, 2007
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS CORPORATION", "Image Model": "C765UZ", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.2", "Image DateTime": "2007:08:26 23:46:09", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.3.9", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "296", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1842", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6389", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Creative", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:08:26 15:26:30", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:08:26 15:26:30", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "141/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2288", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1520", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}