A persistent drumbeat reverberated throughout Barton Hall on Saturday, April 12.

Musicians played traditional American Indian songs as dancers in full regalia keyed their movements and footwork to various melodies and beats.

The small group of musicians played and sang in accompaniment to intertribal, contest and exhibition dancers at Cornell's Ninth Annual Powwow and Smokedance.

American Indians from communities in upstate New York, including the Oneida and Onondaga Nations, came to Cornell for the event, joining Ithaca residents and Cornell students, faculty and staff.

The powwow -- a word derived from the Narragansett, meaning "spiritual leader" -- is put together every year by Native American Students at Cornell with funding from the American Indian Program.

Every dance at the powwow told a story. One group danced the "duck and dive," which comes from a representation of tribal conflict -- warriors taunt their enemies by standing upright and challenge them to shoot their arrows. Then they take a crouched position and dance in quick, dodging movements.

The powwow also featured artisans selling such Native American crafts as wood carvings of trees and animals, with each carving telling a story with an environmental component; necklaces, for example, were made of tagua nut, from the Ecuadorian ivory palm, often called "vegetable ivory." There was also traditional food, such as corn chowder, bean sandwiches and scoon dogs -- beef hot dogs in fry bread.

Event organizer Fred Gonzales '10 noted that the powwow is just one aspect of Native American culture. But most people, he said ruefully, have limited conceptions of American Indian heritage.

Jill McCoy is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.