A Potawatomi Pow-Wow Trail

Although only 13 years of age, Tara Mitchell had a rare opportunity to represent the Potawatomi Nation at a huge pow-wow on the east coast, largely because of a sponsorship by the We te sa, American Legion Post 410.

Tara Mitchell, 2002 Potawatomi Princess.

“It was a great experience to represent the Potawatomi Nation and to dance with so many other tribes,” said Tara. “I enjoyed watching all the dancers, and it will be something I will remember for a long time.”

Tara is the 2002 Potawatomi Princess and attends the Royal Valley School system where she is in the eighth grade. Her hobbies are dancing in pow-wows, playing basketball, volleyball and learning her Potawatomi language.

In fact, each participating princess had an opportunity to introduce herself. Tara chose to use her Potawatomi language to tell the crowd who she was and to give thanks for the opportunity to speak as well as to watch over everyone there. She learned some of her words from her great-grandmother, Alberta Wamego.

The Schemitzun Pow-Wow in Connecticut, held inside a huge Morton-type building, had over a thousand dancers and is considered one of today’s mega-pow-wows, along with the Denver Pow-Wow.

One of the highlights of the pow-wow was to view an old Iroquois dance called the smoke dance. This dance is similar to our Shaw no ka dance. Tara’s mother, Dumps Mitchell, commented that she would get this dance down by the next pow-wow so she could compete.

“I want to thank the We ta se, Post 410, for sponsoring my trip to Connecticut. I was glad my mother was able to go along,” said Tara.

Tara’s term as the Potawatomi Princess will expire in November at the We te sa Pow-Wow. Her year-long reign was eventful, as she attended several area pow-wows, including the Denver Pow-Wow in March.

What’s next for Tara? “I’m waiting for the American Indian Day Pow-Wow and the Royal Valley Pow-Wow,” said Tara, “and enjoy the upcoming volleyball and basketball seasons.”

While she attended the Pow-Wow in Connecticut, Tara missed three volleyball practices thus losing her starting job so she has some catching up to do, which never quite happened. Eventually, the volleyball season passed with little success but Tara enjoyed a good season on the basketball court with high games of 20, 19 and 15 points. She looks forward to improving her game by playing on a Topeka city league team during the winter season. Nonetheless, 2002 will remain a memorable year for a young girl from the reservation.