Dancers deliver dignity
By NICK GEORGIOU, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
05/24/2008

There's a lesson to learn from rabbits, and many other animals, for that matter, said Emma Ortega, a Native American storyteller of the Lipan Apache tribe.She said a rabbit can be viewed as sweet and mild, but plant a vegetable or flower garden in its territory, and it'll ravage it.

"The rabbit teaches us opposites," she said. "How do we see it? Do we see it with laughter, or do we see it with anger?"

It's important to remember that the people encroached upon the rabbit's territory, not the other way around, Ortega said.

For years, she has been participating as a storyteller in Laredo's Memorial Day Pow-Wow, which kicked off Friday night at the Laredo Civic Center, 2400 San Bernardo Ave.

Xavier Delapass, a Comanche and founder of the American Indian Council of Laredo, said the purpose of the intertribal event is to educate, sing, dance, and buy and sell Native American crafts.

It's also a time to see old friends, he said.

The participants, from tribes such as the Comanche, Apache, Sioux and Shawnee, perform numerous dances, including the grass, straight and fancy dancer.

The Head Man dancer at this year's Pow-Wow is Lucio Jimenez from the Kickipoo tribe, and the Head Lady dancer is Kathy Dodd from McAllen.

"No man goes into the arena until he goes to dance, and no lady will dance until (Dodd) dances," Delapass said.

Providing the drum music for the two-day event are the Huisache Creek Singers, a drum group that started 37 years ago, said Roberto Soto, a member of the group and a pastor in McAllen.

"Anyone is welcome to enjoy the dance," he said.

The special guest at the event was a Chiracahua war chief and former Navy Seal.

"He's a man to be respected," Delapass said.

Next year, he said he hopes to get Miss USA 1984 to be the special guest at the event.

"I want to try to make it a bit more flashy for people," he said.

Also at the event were about 20 vendors, which shows the event's growing success, Delapass said.

"You need to be dedicated to this and make it a success," he said. "We haven't had this many vendors in five or six years."

The Pow-Wow also used to feature competitions, but Delapass said he stopped doing it because he doesn't believe in competitions.

"Where there's money, there's greed," he said. "We do this, a friendly and brotherly pow-wow. Back in the old days, there was no competition. You dance for fun."

Delapass said he started the intertribal Pow-Wow and the American Indian Council of Laredo in the early 1990s to unite the local Indian people and honor his grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt Delapass, who served in the Army and fought in World War II and Korea.

The Memorial Day Pow-Wow continues today from noon to 10 p.m.

Admission is free.

(Nick Georgiou may be reached at (956) 728-2582 or by e-mail at nickg@lmtonline.com)





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