Published: June 30, 2008 07:36 am      

Powwow Association in need of funding

For the past 13 years, members of American Indian tribes have come to Richmond for an annual powwow, a festival that gives the public a firsthand experience of the native American culture.

Without sponsorship, however, this year’s event is in doubt.

“We need at least $5,000 in sponsorship before we can promise potential powwow participants that the event will take place,” said Janet Quigg, who helped get the local powwow started in 1994.

“We haven’t depended on corporate sponsorship, but without it this year, I don’t think we can plan for the powwow,” she said.

The financial difficulty began a couple of years back when inclement weather kept ticket-paying visitors away from the powwow, Quigg said.

“The city of Richmond has been very generous in allowing us to use its parks over the years,” she said. The city also was a co-sponsor of the first powwow.

Irvine-McDowell Park was the powwow’s venue its first few years. It then moved to Lake Reba Park.

If conducted this year, the powwow will be in the county’s Battlefield Park the weekend of Sept. 19-21.

“As the powwow has grown and Lake Reba Park has added facilities and activities, we needed a new location,” Quigg said.

The more rural setting of Battlefield Park also will be more in tune with American Indian life, she said.

The powwow is an important educational tool, Quigg said. In addition to events open to the public, the powwow hosts hundreds of schoolchildren on the Friday of the powwow.

“I think the Native American peoples have a lot to teach us today,” Quigg said. “Theirs is a culture more in harmony with nature. They respect the earth and don’t overuse its resources.”

A lifestyle more akin to the American Indians’ would not be fouling the air, rivers and oceans and causing climate change, Quigg said.

The idea for the Richmond powwow originated after Quigg, who has a Cherokee great-grandmother, began researching her genealogy.

“I became more interested as I learned about American history and culture,” she said. “My husband and I then traveled out west to visit reservations and meet the people.”

Historically, American Indian powwows celebrate the harvest.

Members of the tribes would come together for the celebration before going their own ways for the winter. They were a time for the renewing of friendships and catching up on important news, Quigg said.

Donations to the Richmond Powwow Association are tax deductible, she said. The organization received its tax-exempt, 501(c)3 status from the Internal Revenue Service in 1997.

For more information, or to donate, call Quigg at 623-6076. Information also is available at the organization’s Web site: richmondpowwow.org.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 267.