Many modern powwow dancers are a sight to see, and they enjoy coming together and celebrating their heritages. At any intertribal powwow, which are events where many different nations come together at the same powwow, variety in dance style and dance clothing is remarkable. The outfits are unique to each dancer, with some overlapping commonalities, due to tribe or category. One common accessory to men and women dancers alike is the feather fan.
Powwow Fans are made with Feathers
Whether the dancer is a man or a woman, chances are, they might be carrying a fan made out of bird feathers. The most basic use of a fan is to use it to fan off with if the dancer is hot from dancing. The fans are made from bird wings, bird tails, or individually selected tail or wing feathers that when fit together make a fan. Many dancers will have fans made out of birds of prey, such as eagle or hawk, and on occasion owl is seen. Depending on the region or choice, some dancers are not able to have eagle, owl or hawk fans, and instead they are using other feathers, such as macaw, turkey, heron, goose, grouse, swan, or crow, just to name a few. Practitioners of the Native American Church tend to use exotic bird feathers.
The Four Popular Types of Dance Fans
There are several different styles of fans that men and women use. The most common fan is the wing fan. The wing fan is usually the end section of wing. On occasion, the wing is small enough to keep the whole wing intact. Construction is easy. The wing is separated from the bird, dried, and a handle applied. Another type of fan is called the loose fan. The loose fan is a style where individually chosen feathers are inserted onto a wooden dowel in a circular fashion, and not connected together. The handle is usually completely peyote stitched, a beading style. The end result are feathers that are independent of one another. This fan is used by the men who belong to the Native American Church. Some dancers will also use it.
Another example of the ever changing hand ornament is the flat fan, also termed as a tail fan. It is used by many women in jingle and women’s traditional, and at times men use it. Choice tail feathers are stacked in a presentable fanned out way, and then wooden dowels are inserted. After insertion, the dowels are then inserted in a flat paneled handle. It is then beaded. The end result is a extended tail fan. In comparison is the tail fan. Some fan makers will use the whole tail, and other fan makers will choose certain choice feathers and insert them individually into the fan base. The handle will be highly decorated like the loose fan handle. If the tail is whole, it is inserted into the handle whole, secured, then decorated. If it is choice tail feathers, it can be stacked and replicated like a tail, or constructed to the style of flat fan.
Fans used at well established powwows today have evolved and grown over the past dozen or so years. Fans are more elaborate, wider, and longer. For dancers, the fan is a way to connect to the natural world, and to keep themselves cool when they get hot from dancing. Fans have a special place in a dancers mind, and each reason is different with every dancer you talk to. Before the advent of modern powwows, modern meaning within the last three decades, some dancers never had fans. Decades ago, women used to have a scarf or a handbag instead of a fan. But time is changing, powwows are progressing, and the fan has become an intertribal necessity for many dancers on the powwow trail.
Sources:
- Browner, Tara. (2000). “Contemporary Native American Powwow Dancing”. I See America Dancing. Maureen Needham, editor. Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
- Hungry Wolf, Adolf. (1999). Pow-wow: Dancer’s and Craftworker’s Handbook. Summertown, TN: Native Voices.
- Jones, Craig. (2006). “Contest Fans”. Whispering Wind Magazine. Ed. Jack B. Heriard. New Orleans, LA.: Written Heritage.
- Knowlden, George S. (2002). “Flat Fan Construction.” Whispering Wind Crafts Annual #5, 2nd edition. Ed. Jack B. Heriard. New Orleans, LA.: Written Heritage.
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