SAN DIEGO--If one ever doubted the diversity of Indian Country, all you had to do was spend a few hours in the Presidential Ballroom of The US Grant hotel here on the opening day of the National Indian Gaming Association’s annual convention.
In a three-hour performance, an audience of several hundred people glimpsed the breadth of Native culture and the resilience of Native traditions. They listened to stories and music and viewed an array of dances that reflected the varied languages and culture of what was called a “spirit of sovereignty celebration.”
Sunday’s performance, which kicked off NIGA’s 17th annual meeting and trade show, featured singers and dancers from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the United Tribes Technical College of North Dakota; the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in California; the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico; and the Tlingit in Alaska.
After an afternoon of colorful dress and traditional clothing, the final performance spotlighted a dozen Native men from California ranging in age from 14 to 32 years old, dressed in casual, urban wear, clad mainly in black and some wearing baseball caps and one wearing sunglasses. The Southern California Intertribal Bird Singers used shakers to compliment their voices and from a straight line of dancing began moving around the stage while a young woman danced to the side in accompaniment.
But much like some of the previous performances, their dancing and singing brought people in the audience to their feet.
Wayne Nelson, 27, a La Jolla and one of the Bird Singers, said he has been dancing since the age of 14 and that the group includes members of the Pauma, Los Coyotes, San Gabriel, Soboba, Agua Caliente, Torres-Martinez and other tribes in California. He said the group learned the bird songs from a Desert Cahuilla elder and noted bird song teacher Robert Levi, who died in 2007. The important thing, he added, is not so much the clothing but the music, the meaning and the tradition.
“A lot of people kind of stereotype us, but when we perform, hopefully we do a good enough performance that they see past that,” Nelson said.
One of those moved by the performance of the Bird Singers was Rosemary Morillo, the vice chair of the Soboba, who said their music can touch her. “Certain songs they sing are so pretty,” she said. “I can just close my eyes” and her voice drifted off, “so pretty.”
Dancing With Daschle
Speaking of dancing, there was a little political waltz on the first floor of The US Grant hotel where the Barack Obama campaign set up shop in the Palm Court for a fundraising reception featuring former Sen. Thomas Daschle.
In what was billed as an “all tribal fundraiser,” the gathering brought Daschle together with tribal leaders and others attending the annual meeting of the National Indian Gaming Association. The event underscored the fact that while the convention focus may be on gaming issues, there is a different form of high-stakes political poker that will culminate in November.
And at a time when the Pennsylvania primary is only a few days away and the need for money is an old song, fundraising is a familiar dance – even in Indian Country.
For Daschle, a former South Dakota senator and Senate majority leader, it is clear that the election has galvanized tribes all over the country.
“I think there is such a burning desire in Indian Country for change, a new direction and a recognition of the many challenges we face,” he said in an interview. “It’s a recognition on the part of the campaigns of the importance of tribes in the political process which I don’t think existed 20 years ago. So there’s a recognition in both directions which is a very positive development.”
So why Obama?
“What I feel with Barack Obama is his tremendous commitment and passion for the recognition of and the importance of sovereignty and treaty obligations,” Daschle said. “That to me is not always as evident with his presidential opponents.”
Daschle, one of his party’s superdelegates who may be called upon to decide the nomination at the Denver convention, said that power should not be the case and that superdelegates should stick to the choice of elected delegates.
As for his own possible role as a vice presidential running mate if Obama should win the nomination, Daschle smiled.
“I have no designs on higher office,” he said. “I’m very happy doing what I’m doing. I want to support Barack in whatever capacity I can. I take that as the highest compliment and I guess we’ll just leave it at that.”
Meanwhile, he remains optimistic about the future for Native issues.
“I am very confident that the economic, political and intellectual clout of Native Americans will continue to grow,” he said. “We are seeing that now and will continue to see that in the coming years.”