The seventh annual White Eagle Pow Wow begins today at Jester Park near Saylorville Lake in Central Iowa. Spokesperson Sharon Haught says the Pow Wow is an attempt to foster relationships will all people.
She says it’s hosted by the Native Americans, and brings together all different races and cultures from what they call "four directions" the black, the yellow and the white.
Haught says the event began with one person’s dream. Haught says it was started by Ralph Moisa after his son had a vision to bring all the cultures and races together. Haught says Moisa’s son died when he was 19 as he tried to save a red-tailed hawk caught in a power line.
She says he climbed up and caught the hawk, but the bird flapped its wings and hit the power line and both died. Haught says his mother and father started the Pow Wow to honor the son’s vision and see it become alive. Haught says the Pow Wow will feature four "Grand Entries."
That’s where the Native Americans come in and do their dances. They are tonight (Friday) at seven o’clock, Saturday at one o’clock and seven, and Sunday at noon. Haught says dancers from other cultures will perform inbetween each of the grand entries. The event is free and open to the public.