"Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth."

― Winona LaDuke

Honor the Earth is holding a Traditional Spring Powwow (Ziigwan Niimi'idiwin in Ojibwe) beginning at noon Saturday at Pine Point School. The theme is "Water is Life."

Winona LaDuke is an environmentalist, writer and executive director of Honor the Earth, an organization that played an active role in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and has been active in the Enbridge pipeline debates.

Honor the Earth is a national organization focusing on environmental issues, such as climate change, renewable energy and sustainable development.

Grand entries will be at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. with a free dinner at 5:30 p.m. There will also be a hand drum contest and mocassin games.

The Smokey Hills Drum group will be featured, with Murphy Thomas announcing. The White Earth Veterans Association will be in attendance. Mary Lyons will be the head dancer and spiritual advisor.

Everyone is welcome to participate in this event. For more information on Honor the Earth events, contact bridget@honorearth.org or call 218-375-3200.

Pine Point is a K-8 school on the White Earth Reservation, just outside the village of Ponsford.

From Park Rapids, take Highway 34 west and turn left on Becker County 225 just past Osage. At the Ponsford post office, turn right, and then turn left at St. Theodore's Catholic Church until you reach the school at 48075 Pow Wow Highway. The school is located on the right side of the road.

Pine Point School powwow

Pine Point School's annual powwow featuring student in grade K-8 will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, with a free meal of Indian tacos and grand entry at noon. Judges will be selecting a princess and brave to represent the school during the coming year.

Powwow tradition and etiquette

The powwow is a celebrate of Native American life through song and dance. Powwows open with a flag song and grand entry. Veterans and elders are honored at powwows and go first in the grand entry.

Regalia is the name for the clothing worn at powwows. Dances at Ojibwe powwows may include a grass dance where dancers move like grass swaying in the wind, a fancy shawl dance and a jingle dress dance which originated as a medicine dance for healing.

More than anything else, the drum is the focus of the powwow. The drum is a sacred object and is round to represent the circle of life. It is made from wood and hide to represent honesty and sharing with the natural world. This is to remind people of their dependence on their creator.

Four or more singers surround the drum, which represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth.

Only take photos when the announcer says it is allowed and be sure to ask the person you want to photograph for permission as well.

Eagle feathers are sacred to the Ojibwe. If one falls off a dancer's regalia let an elder know and they will take care of it.

Intertribal dances are for all people attending the powwow and a regalia is not required to dance. Powwows usually end with a traveling song and a prayer to the Great Spirit (Gitchie Manitou).