First event at new Twin Buttes powwow grounds challenges participants

Despite the weather and construction worries, the new powwow grounds saw a great turn out with 22 vendors and all RV hookups sold out

Under the arbor, hundreds of people sat watching the various categories of men’s and women’s dancing at the Twin Buttes Powwow Aug. 4-6. 

Others attended Indian relays, rodeos, or indoor horse racing at the arena across the way. Not everyone knew that weather and construction woes nearly hindered the activities, but many soon took note.

Up until the week before powwow, a big pile of dirt blocked the whole road leading to the new grounds and arena. Three days before the annual festivities, a strike of lightning knocked out the power to half of the RV sites; the storm left the grounds muddy, said Angie Gillette, the director of the Twin Buttes Powwow. She wasn’t sure if the site would be ready in time.

Since this would be the new powwow grounds’ first year in operation, Gillette had a bigger load on her plate than most years.

“Going into this year was like, ‘Is construction going to be done? Is there even going to be a road into the arena? And are all the electrics going to work?’” Gillette said. The task meant more than just “being in all the meetings,” she said.

The old powwow grounds are located on the banks of Lake Sakakawea, built on the Three Affiliated Tribes’ cherished Missouri River. However, the Federal Corp of Engineers manages it, which puts limitations on its use. “We couldn’t expand, we couldn’t grow; flooding is definitely an issue. It just wasn’t accommodating us anymore,” Gillette said. Plus, she recalled, “The plan was always to have a brand new arena.”

Responding to Buffalo’s Fire, Peggy Pfeifer, one of the elders in the community, said that the new grounds look beautiful, but the location and size lack some of the appeal that the old site had.

“I loved the lake, I like the feeling of being down in the valley of the hills there,” said Pfeifer. “And I just love the old powwow grounds because it just seemed like everybody was together, not so spread out.”

She gave voice to community concerns, adding that before, “you would be sharing more of your culture, family and friends, and all this; it seemed like you were wrapped in somebody’s arms,” she reminisced. “Where this one feels like with everything going on, with all the concrete, and the mud where all those other campers were, then the new sod –– it wasn’t as warm of a feeling as the old one.”

With the expansion of the new powwow grounds also came concerns about the community.

One that Pfeifer identified was too many things happening at once. “When the relay was going on, they were having the veterans dance. There was so much taking away from the celebration,” Pfeifer said.

Though the new grounds are spread out, that was one of the powwow planners’ intentions. If they were lucky, at the old powwow grounds, they’d have 14 vendors. The previous year they only had two. But this year, the tribe was booked with 22 vendors and sold out of all 68 RV hookups.

“Now we can do whatever we want,” said Gillette. “We can grow on it. We don’t just want to have powwows there; we’re hoping people have their weddings, graduations –– and they are going to open a new high school right there.”

Despite the conditions of the mud and sod this year, Gillette said that this is only the beginning of the new grounds.

“You know this was our first year,” said Gillette. “It was only completed right before the powwow. There were a lot of glitches to work out, things were going to come up. We’re going to have better walkways, we’re going to have better spaces –– I mean, we’ll just keep growing.”

Dateline:

TWIN BUTTES, N.D.