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Honoring 'Giver Of Life'

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By JULIA FERRANTE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 12, 2008

DADE CITY - Sheltered from the blazing sun and persistent wind under the shade of a large tree, Mittie Wood sat on the sidelines Sunday, filled with the spirit of her mother.

LeEstes Hamm died more than seven years ago, but her memory is never more present than at the annual Mother's Day Native American Pow Wow, on the edge of the center circle.

"I can still feel her out there. She always sat right there," said Wood, 64, pointing to a smaller tree a few yards away. "She never wanted any of the glory."

Wood, who is part Muscogee Creek Indian, started the powwow 17 years ago with her mother as a way of educating people about native culture and traditions. The three-day event drew about 1,000 people this year from throughout Florida and the United States.

Members of Native American tribes from across the country danced together, ate together, shared traditions and honored their mothers with a culminating dance in the center circle Sunday.

Wood and her mother built a replica of an 1800s village at Withlacoochee River Park. The Creeks did not have powwows, but mother and daughter thought the event would show Native Americans are not as they often are portrayed in movies and would remind government officials "we're still here."

Wood chose Mother's Day in honor of her mother.

"We celebrate mama year-round. She's the giver of life," she said.

The event included tours of the village, storytelling and demonstrations. Vendors sold dream catchers, woodworking, fried bread and buffalo burgers. Dancers and musicians performed in the inner ring. Some guests camped overnight.

Anna "Spirit Walker" McAllister, a Cherokee medicine woman from Lakeland, said the powwow creates "a good spiritual connection and a lot of good fellowship."

"There is a lot of healing if you've got the pure motive going in the circle," she said.

Paul DeLuna of Port Richey, an Apache Indian who sells paintings and crafts, said the powwow gives people a sense of "what's real and what's made up" about Native Americans.

Jay Chapin, a Zephyrhills winter resident not of Native American descent, attended the powwow to see something different, he said.

Richard WhiteCloud, his wife, Siouxzen and their daughter Teakahla, 5, of Broward County, were visiting his grandmother in Polk County this weekend. They attended the powwow to reconnect with their culture, he said.

"We're half-bloods, myself and my wife," he said. "We try to live our culture as much as we can. We feel a kind of respect from the Earth and try to give back what it gives to us."

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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