Copyright © 2002 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

The National Mall will come alive in a colorful expression of song and dance on the week-end of September 14 and 15, 2002 when the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) holds its first-ever nationwide pow wow. NMAI and AIROS are proud to bring this live event to you over the radio as well as online.

The Smithsonian’s pow wow, an intertribal, will be held on The National Mall next to the site of the National Museum of the American Indian, now under construction on Independence Avenue at Fourth Street. The museum is scheduled to open in fall 2004 and this pow wow is one of a number of public events that the museum will host between now and the time it opens.

There will be dancers representing hundreds of tribal nations in several dance categories including men and women’s senior (50 and over); men’s fancy dance, grass and traditional (northern and southern); women’s jingle dress, fancy shawl and traditional (northern and southern); teens (13 - 17); juniors (6 - 12) and tiny tots (5 and under). More than $77,000 in prize money will be awarded to the top five finishers in each adult category.

The northern host drum for this pow wow is Black Lodge (Blackfeet) from White Swan, WA and the southern host drum is Cozad (Kiowa) from Anadarko, OK.

Each day’s broadcast will begin with a Grand Entry that will be led by several special invited guests and an American Indian military veteran color guard.

Masters of Ceremonies for the pow wow will be Dale Old Horn (Crow) and Wallace Coffey (Comanche).

Your on-air hosts for the radio broadcast and online webcast will be Camille Lacapa (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa/Hopi-Tewa), General Manger of WOJB Radio and Caleb Strickland (Lumbee), NMAI Community Services Program Assistant.

For more information on the pow wow including a live video stream of the pow wow go to the (NMAI) National Museum of the American Indian's web site for the Inaugual Pow Wow On The National Maul.

To listen online go to AIROS.org
9/14/02 1:00 pm - 11:00 pm ET (Grand Entries at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm)
9/15/02 1:00 pm - 7:00 pm ET (Grand Entry at 1:00 pm)

If you live in the D.C. area and are planning on going to the pow wow, don't forget to stop by and pick-up your AIROS.org bumpersticker.