The 14th of March, 2015 was a day of much memorabilia. Together with a group of about ten students of University of Michigan, led by Dr. Bruce Martin, Director of ECIR, I had the -first of its kind- opportunity to be a part of the Round Dance Festival, a cultural event hosted by the Ojibwe, an indigenous tribe of North America. About 15 Drum Groups from US and Canada were expected to play at this event.
Needless to say, the email announcing the trip caught my attention and made me visit the centre asking for more details. Bruce grew up in the Ojibwe tribe and his passion toward reviving their culture and language was very apparent when he described the event to me. That motivated me enough to sign the cheque for the trip.
Before we left, we were introduced to some customs and ceremonies of Ojibwe people by Bruce, some Our group was a very diverse one, with people from different backgrounds such as Marketing, Communication Studies and Engineering all coming together for this unique event. Barriers dissolved quickly and by the time we reached Mt. Pleasant, we were a chirpy group.
Soon the proceedings began with a pipe ceremony where the chief called for interested people to sit in a circle with him and partake in smoking of the pipe in turns as it went around. Each time a person smoked, he would point the mouth of the pipe to the other side and then pass it on. We were cautioned not to take pictures during this event since it held great spiritual significance. The food that was spread out was smudged with the smoke from the pipe as a good omen for health.
We then were allowed to have our fill from a lavish spread of meat, vegetables and desert. With a few vegetarian options available, I was satisfied indeed. After dinner, it was time to dance.
The various Drum groups who had arrived from various places started to sing and play. Though on the outset, they seemed very similar to each other, after a while one could feel the subtle differences in the tempo, spirit and power in the songs.
There was one drum group in particular that blew me away and had me dancing intensely through every song they played. With the repetitive two - step beats, it wasn't hard to invent new steps to the rhythm. Dancing to their songs was a trance like feeling coupled with a sense of togetherness that bound all the people in that circle.
After this, as a final proceeding, we witnessed a Healing ceremony where the near and dear family members of the Ojibwe community who had passed away recently were remembered and payed respects to. We reached Ann Arbor in the early hours of Sunday, sleepy, tired, the drum sounds still ringing fresh in our ears.
Needless to say, the email announcing the trip caught my attention and made me visit the centre asking for more details. Bruce grew up in the Ojibwe tribe and his passion toward reviving their culture and language was very apparent when he described the event to me. That motivated me enough to sign the cheque for the trip.
Before we left, we were introduced to some customs and ceremonies of Ojibwe people by Bruce, some Our group was a very diverse one, with people from different backgrounds such as Marketing, Communication Studies and Engineering all coming together for this unique event. Barriers dissolved quickly and by the time we reached Mt. Pleasant, we were a chirpy group.
Soon the proceedings began with a pipe ceremony where the chief called for interested people to sit in a circle with him and partake in smoking of the pipe in turns as it went around. Each time a person smoked, he would point the mouth of the pipe to the other side and then pass it on. We were cautioned not to take pictures during this event since it held great spiritual significance. The food that was spread out was smudged with the smoke from the pipe as a good omen for health.
We then were allowed to have our fill from a lavish spread of meat, vegetables and desert. With a few vegetarian options available, I was satisfied indeed. After dinner, it was time to dance.
There was one drum group in particular that blew me away and had me dancing intensely through every song they played. With the repetitive two - step beats, it wasn't hard to invent new steps to the rhythm. Dancing to their songs was a trance like feeling coupled with a sense of togetherness that bound all the people in that circle.
After this, as a final proceeding, we witnessed a Healing ceremony where the near and dear family members of the Ojibwe community who had passed away recently were remembered and payed respects to. We reached Ann Arbor in the early hours of Sunday, sleepy, tired, the drum sounds still ringing fresh in our ears.
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