Last year, the pandemic forced Indigenous tribes in Virginia to cancel festivals and powwows.
With vaccines, safety protocols, and celebrations taking place outdoors, tribes are making their way back to community events.
Jamestown kicked the effort off with its first Indigenous Arts Day.
Throughout the day, the year of COVID-19 was on everyone’s mind.
Troy Adkins is a member of the Chickahominy Tribe and addressed the crowd. "Our first gathering in probably over a year for a lot of us, so we’re a little out of shape. I know I speak for myself, I know I am," he joked. "Somebody chuckled behind me, I didn’t like that.
Since March last year, the Virginia Department of Health says there were 960 reported cases of COVID-19 among people who identified as “American Indian or Alaska Native,” of those 27 people died. But VDH says it has no specific data on tribal association.
For tribal members, it was a day of celebration, not only for Indigenous culture and arts but for stepping back into the community. Adkins and other members of the Hampton Roads-based Red Crooked Sky American Indian Dance Troupe demonstrated traditional and modern dances. At times the public was asked to join in. Small crowds of masked onlookers visited artist booths and sat in physically distanced groups of chairs throughout the day.
Jamie Helmick, who manages special projects and programs for Jamestown Settlement, says people were excited to get out again. "Especially among the Native communities. Without them having powwows, which is traditionally how they celebrate their cultures, they haven’t had them in over a year. So, I think this was a good opportunity for them to come out and get together again, because community is very important among Native cultures."
There were four different performers and nine artists demonstrating and selling their work including wampum jewelry, baskets, flutes, pottery and gourds.
At Stacey Littledeer’s table, the Knight family is taking turns digging through a box of homemade arrowheads to find just the right one. Littledeer, a painter, is from the Mattaponi and Eastern Cherokee Tribes. She sells other Indigenous artwork like the arrowheads and wooden flutes. When she talks about the pandemic it’s about energy. "It’s been really, really hard. I’ve seen a lot of our people get very focused and very creative. I get very affected by energy and the energy has been very discombobulated."
Her spirit paintings feature animals and trees. Her “Women in Prayer” series are timely as they speak to women who have struggled at home during the pandemic. "Many of my pieces you see one woman, a woman alone and being alone does not have to mean that you are lonely," she explains. "Yes, many of us need that alone time to be with the spirit."
Another dance presentation begins accompanied by the Stoney Creek Singers, Northern Powwow singers representing Indigenous tribes from North Carolina. Nikki Bass dances with Red Crooked Sky. Her community, the Nansemond Tribe, is discussing whether they will have their powwow this year. "We did a survey to ask the community how people feel about outdoor events, about types of PPE and maybe having things like staggered attendance times to control the number of people on the grounds," Bass says. "So, we’ll see how it evolves but we’re hoping to at least have something, maybe similar to this so people can feel a sense of connection again."
Some tribes will post schedules on their websites for their powwows and other events open to the public as decisions are made.
***Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Stacy Littledeer. She is a full time artist.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.