91. Animal Pow Wow Power
Children powerfully identify with animals. No matter where you are in the world, young human beings feel strongly about animals. It is a deep primordial sympathy.
Children folk tales around the world abound with animal characters as vehicles of proverbial wisdom, caution and counsel. The courageous leadership of the lion; the work ethic beaver; the gentle, discerning deer; the jester coyote; the clever crow; the prophet elephant; the wise old owl; the deceptive, yet sagacious snake; the sojourner bear; the all seeing turtle – embedded deep within the human psyche.
You may feel a strong, almost kindred affinity to a particular animal, even now!
This winter and spring we orchestrated two performing arts programs for 1st and 2nd grade students entitled Home Planet Earth. Songs and choreography to do with Water, Sustainability, our Solar System, Animal Habitats, Eco-Systems and World Geography were all included. But this year, one song in particular really stood out. It is called Animal Pow Wow.
The song has its own charisma. Teaching it always begins with the question: Do you know what a Pow Wow is? Children love the word Pow Wow. It seems to carry a charge with it.
A Pow Wow is a tribal gathering. It is a big meeting! The word comes from the indigenous North America tribal peoples like the Hopi, Pueblo, Zuni, Apache and Navajo of the Southwest, the Blackfeet and Lakota Sioux, the Iroquois, the Seminole and the Kwakiutl, to name just a few.
Nowadays the biggest Pow Wow in the world happens here in New Mexico. It is called The Gathering of Nations Pow Wow! It is a meeting, a very big meeting of many, many tribes from all over North America.
All the children are invited too! The whole family (including all your relatives) joins together for the Pow Wow. It is a time to celebrate by singing and dancing; a time to remember and honor the dead; and it is a time when the tribal elders make important decisions about the future. Sometimes the Pow Wow is about giving an important message to the world; a message transmitted through song and dance!
That is what the Animal Pow Wow is! All the animals gather from all over the world to give an important message to the humans of the Earth.
- “They gathered from mountains and forests and waters,
- Deserts and jungles and prairie lands.
- To the Great Mother came all her sons and daughters.
- Animals from far and near
- We Pow Wow our message here
- Let us let the people hear
- Our call:
- Hear O humanity
- Hear now our call
- Care for our Mother Earth
- As our mother cares for all!”
The children waddle, walk, stride, trot and crawl onto the stage to gather ‘round a pow wow fire wearing animal masks they have made in the weeks leading up to the performance. Then they begin to sing.
This is always a potent performance, but this year it jumped to a new level. We think it is because the children really made it their own by identifying with the sentiment and meaning of the song as if they were truly the animals sending out an important message to the human race.
- “Eagle, coyote, antelope, deer,
- mountain lion and bear.
- Elephant, kangaroo, seal and whale.
- Creatures of night and day.
- Creatures of land, water and air…
- Animals from far and near
- We pow wow our message here
- Let us let the people hear
- Our call:
- Hear O humanity
- Hear now our call
- Care for our Mother Earth
- As our mother cares for all…”
~PAZ
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