One of the most potentially sad developments during the making of “Powwow People” becomes one of its most beautiful as director Sky Hopkina introduces Freddie Cozad, a longtime member of the drum circle that plays at powwows like the one at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Seattle depicted in the film, with the note that Cozad took ill shortly after giving an interview and just before he was set to perform. He is made to feel as if he’s still very much alive as Hopkina places his voice over the unfolding event, as if his spirit is still very much setting the tone for the other drummers to follow as they carry on in his wake, immediately after his passing now, but obviously well into the future too. Cozad can be heard remembering later in the film how as a young man himself, he played alongside people whose grandchildren would eventually become part of the percussion and the marriage of his recollections with what’s unfolding in the moment becomes an extraordinary illustration of how the beat goes on for this grand tradition.
Hopkina doesn’t leave the small park that the event is held on over the course of fleet 88 minutes, but that doesn’t place any limits on its exuberance, observing a celebration of Native culture that proves captivating as much for what history is being passed on as the amount of competitive dancing that’s involved. Organizer Gina Bluebird-Stacona says early on that even the most mundane preparations for such an event have a value in relating the past to future generations as she likens the adults setting up the space to her ancestors staking out a place to camp, inspiring curiosity amongst the young on how to do it just right. It’s something you actually get to see with your own eyes as Hopkina and cinematographer Shandiin Tome roam around the pow wow, often fixed on the center of the field where the action of the dance or the drum circle is taking place but drifting off from time to see young kids who aren’t yet able to fully participate in the event pounding the metal park benches with sticks, awaiting their turn to be a part of it as the years pass. That said, the pow wow is welcoming to all as young and old are often outfitted in the same traditional wear and Hopkina extends that idea when besides Cozad and Bluebird-Stacia, the film finds a third main character in the nonbinary Jamie John, who has found dance as an opportunity to express themselves without judgment.
The film moves vibrantly from morning to night with the competition between the dancers becoming a main focus, though it’s all in good fun. Beyond the context offered by the three main interview subjects, not breaking up the energy of the event when their voices are laid over it, a wry running commentary is offered by the pow wow’s wonderfully irreverent MC Ruben Little Head on the ground, making announcements such as someone’s lost their glasses in the port-a-potty and advising Hopkina on which musical number is sure to make the final cut of his film. As a field of competitors is narrowed down, the confidence the event breeds becomes more infectious as the dancers themselves seem to lose themselves in rhythm. There may be prizes handed out at the end of the night, even to Hopkina, who has trouble putting down his camera long enough to accept, but it feels as if the real winners are out in the crowd being invited in to see history being made.
“Powwow People” does not yet have U.S. distribution.