Thousands Flock To Northwest's Largest Powwow

NWNews | By Emily Schwing

Published July 25, 2016 at 3:08 PM PDT

Over the weekend, hundreds of dancers joined traditional drummers at the Northwest’s largest powwow in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Emily Schwing shares this audio postcard and video from the weekend's events.

https://youtu.be/vFRQjAZyYPU

Julyamsh is the largest powwow in the Northwest and among the top five powwows in the nation.

Hundreds of drummers and dancers were in North Idaho for the powwow. They were dressed in vibrant costumes covered in fathers and made from animal skins. Many of the dancers also wore strings of bells around their ankles.

There are a number of categories dancers compete in to show off their talent. These young men are waiting to be called for the chicken dance, which emulates the prairie chicken.

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Emily Schwing

Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.