Photo Gallery
Six Threads Fashion Exhibition
The low-key fashion exhibition featured six local artists showing off their unique designs in an intimate atmosphere while DJs Cam Holifield and Michael Inscoe provided smooth tunes. Held in the Old Mason Building on Kavanaugh Blvd.
If you go
› What: Chattanooga Pow Wow on the River.› When: 10 a.m-9 p.m. Saturday, April 2; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, April 3.› Where: First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Carter St.› Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 6-12 or 60 and older; $40 family pass for two adults, two children; free to active military or veterans and emergency responders with ID.› Website: www.naservices.org.
Representatives from 12 tribes of American Indians will gather Saturday and Sunday, April 2-3, for a heritage celebration in First Tennessee Pavilion.
The Chattanooga Pow Wow on the River is a chance for the public to learn more about the dress, music, dances, food and handcrafts that have been passed from generation to generation of these tribes. Tammera Hicks, event organizer, says while the majority of the participants will be Cherokee, there also will be members of the Poarch Creek, Muskogee, Seminole, Lenape, Chickasaw, Comanche, Apache, Lakota Sioux, Micmac, Winnebago and Navajo tribes in attendance.
Hicks says there will be vendors set up in the pavilion selling artwork, pottery, clothing, jewelry, silver and turquoise jewelry and all types of beaded items.
"We'll have your typical dreamcatchers, but visitors will also find decorative gourd carvings, glass items and handmade crafts of all types," she says.
The main event each day is the Grand Entry, a procession in which the tribes enter the pavilion in full dress. It is a majestic ceremony with plenty of pageantry. Grand Entry times are noon and 6 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
"The Grand Entry is what opens the circle for all the dancers and the actual gathering to begin," explains Hicks. "All participants wear full regalia, and most all of it is handmade and hand-painted. These dancers come to show off to everybody their craft, their work, their designs. The designs on their clothing tell stories of themselves and their families, so when they are dancing they are representing their families, and it's a beautiful thing to see."
Hicks adds special entertainment will be presented by Aztec fire dancers at 11 a.m. Saturday and by flute player Gareth Laffely at 11 a.m., 5:15 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Laffely, whom Hicks calls "a Native American rising star," is a Maine teenager and a member of the Micmac tribe.
In fact, Laffely received the Rising Star Award from the Native American Music Awards in 2014, one of just three artists to receive that award in 15 years. He has released two albums. One of them, "Sky Before a Storm," previously held the No. 2 spot on Billboard's Top 100 New Age Chart.
Hicks says visitors to the powwow this weekend are encouraged to ask the tribe members what their clothing designs represent. However, she stresses visitors should not touch the clothing or photograph any Indian unless given permission to do so.
"It's courtesy because some of the dancers wear what we call 'medicine,' so it's best to always ask."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.