September 15, 2016 – Full Issue
What draws one to a pow-wow? Is it to dance? To watch? Is it the vendors, the drum groups? Or is it the fry bread? The Meno Keno Ma Gē Wen’s committee did an excellent job of meeting expectations in all of these attracting categories.
This year, the pow-wow was put together by a new group of people: Lateachia Pemma, Ruth Pemma, Jonathan Johnson, Ira Frank, and Pwagen Frank. All of these individuals were hand-picked by the pow-wow advisor, FCP Council Member Brooks Boyd. According to Boyd, Brian (Nodin) Thunder was also a big contributor in terms of helping get the pow-wow to where it was.
Other people who helped make the pow-wow successful were the arena director, Dylan Prescott, and the emcee, Artley Skenandore. The weekend’s host drum was Northern Cree; Fire Nation was the co-host drum. The other invited drums included Smokey Town, Lake Delton, Tomahawk Circle, and Savage Nation. Candice Johnson and Tony Wahweotten were the head dancers.
The pow-wow was kicked off on Friday night with the annual princess competition. Altogether, five brave, beautiful young ladies participated in the interview and dance requirements. Lovey VanZile, Gloria Emma Skenandore, and Nimki Kwe Daniels competed for the Junior Princess title. Afterwards, Sarah Jacobson and Alexandria Decorah ran for the Senior Princess title. The three judges – Gabrielle Doud, Presley Keeble, and Gina Boychief – had a tough time deciding between these five deserving contestants but did a good job keeping their decisions a secret until the next day.
Anticipation continued to build throughout the day on Saturday. First grand entry began at 1 p.m. and was followed by a mixture of inter-tribals and specials. A total of 333 dancers graced the arena. Finally, shortly before exhibitions and dinner break, visiting royalty introduced themselves to the crowd and then the new princesses were announced. An equally surprised and delighted Lovey VanZile was crowned as the 2016 Junior Princess by the reigning Symone Pemma. Then, first-time competitor, Alexandria Decorah, was crowned as the newest Senior Princess by Ceyenna Boychief. After all of the initial excitement, PTT was able to interview each winner in order to get to know a little bit more about each of them.
Lovey VanZile is the daughter of Heather and Josh VanZile, the granddaughter of Grandpa Rudy, Grandpa Al, Grandpa Rob, Grandpa Sonny, Grandpa Cha-Cha, Grandma Mann, Grandma Rosie, and Grandma Myra. VanZile is eight years old and is a third-grader at Laona this year. When asked how she felt about her win, VanZile responded with a big smile, “Surprised!” This is not VanZile’s first time being royalty, so she knows what is expected of her. She plans to dance in many pow-wows this upcoming year, including one in Michigan and the Winter’s End pow-wow. Aside from dancing jingle dress since she was five, VanZile shared other cultural activities she enjoys: language class and helping her mom and grandma make her dresses. Outside of the culture, VanZile enjoys running, basketball, baseball, and swimming.
Alexandria Decorah is the daughter of Rhiannon and Foster Decorah and the granddaughter of Paul and Rose Cloud and Bill and Cindy Evans. Decorah is 14 years old and is a freshman at Reedsburg High School. When asked about her win, Decorah explained that this was her first time competing. “My dad kept asking me and then I finally decided that I wanted to try.” She told PTT that she was very excited about her win. Although this was Decorah’s first time competing for princess, she is definitely not new to the pow-wow scene. She shared that she attends pow-wows every weekend and even travels as far as New Mexico and Las Vegas to dance. When she is not dancing, Decorah keeps herself very busy with many different activities: student council, soccer, track, choir, violin, clarinet, and figure skating, all while maintaining a 3.9 GPA in school.
After the excitement of the first half of the pow-wow, a delicious dinner made by members of the Menominee tribe was served to all.
The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of dancing, drumming, singing, and visiting. A good time was had by all who attended, and PTT heard nothing but good reviews. All the hard work put into the Meno Keno Ma Gē Wen by many definitely paid off.
Boyd added, “A new pow-wow committee was formed this year comprised of tribal members, all of which have an extensive background and experience of the pow-wow circuit. Needless to say, they went to work. The pow-wow was run exceptionally well. My hat’s off to the new committee as they did an excellent job at ensuring this year’s pow-wow was a great success.”