United San Antonio Fiesta Pow Wow
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Powwow keeps up Indian traditions
Web Posted: 09/19/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Karen
Adler
Express-News Staff Writer
Long before the battle of the Alamo, members of the Coahuiltecan Nation helped build San Antonio's five famous missions and lived and died there.
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Descendants of those American Indians who want to protect their ancestors and keep their culture alive gathered on the grounds of Mission San José on Sunday for a traditional powwow and the Missions Heritage 5K Run/Walk.
Events were organized by American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions, or AIT-SCM, and United San Antonio Pow Wow.
For many, the highlight of the day was a chance to meet Billy Mills, an American Indian who won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter race in the 1964 Olympics. Mills ran in the 5K and afterward spoke about defying perceptions.
At the 1964 games, held in Tokyo, Mills said he was ranked eighth in the world and unranked in the U.S., even though his time was 12 seconds faster than the top-ranked American runner.
He won the Olympic race in an upset that was later chronicled in the 1983 movie about his life, "Running Brave."
"The greatest challenge you and I face in the world today is what I call perceptions," he said. "A perception is neither right or wrong."
His words kicked off the powwow, where local American Indians, dressed in full regalia, danced to the beat of a rawhide drum not far from where their ancestors are buried.
None of the missions are formally designated as American Indian burial grounds, but AIT-SCM is working with the Catholic Church and the National Park Service to ensure that the remains are respected.
"We want to protect people buried here within the walls of all the missions," said Ramon Vasquez, executive director of AIT-SCM.
The group also advocates for American Indian communities and offers character development programs for young men and fathers.
Throughout the day Sunday, visitors meandered through the market, buying American Indian jewelry, clothes and crafts. They also munched on tasty "Indian tacos" from the fry bread booth outside the main compound.
The fry bread is a must-have at any powwow but is also a reminder of American Indians' painful history.
When the U.S. government moved American Indians off their land, sometimes forcibly, and onto reservations in the 1800s, they provided the indigenous people with rations of flour. The American Indians added water, a little baking soda, salt and sugar to make sticky dough.
A small ball of dough is dipped in flour, rolled into a flat circle and thrown in a vat of oil. When brown and crispy, it can be sprinkled with sugar and honey, like a sopapilla or buñuelo. Or, as is done in the Southwest, it's topped with beans, ground beef, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese.
"It's a staple food, just like the tortilla," said Isaac Cardenas, a fry bread guru of San Antonio. "Every powwow you go to, you'll see fry bread booths."
Cardenas has a secret fry bread recipe, but Christina Mosier, 32, might have figured out the special ingredient.
"It's made with love; that's what makes it taste so good," she said.
