The annual trip to the Harvard Native American Powwow, sponsored by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (Peabody), was cancelled last Saturday as a result of bus service difficulties. The trip would have marked the third year Andover students attended the event.
Powwows serve as both cultural celebrations and social gatherings for Native American tribes. The Harvard Powwow, established in 1995, is an intertribal event open to the public that many indigenous people living in the Boston area attend. In 2023, the Peabody began chaperoning trips for Andover students to Cambridge for the powwow.
Dr. Robert Wheeler, Director of the Peabody, expressed the value of sponsoring the trip. Wheeler explained that this year, there was a scheduling error with the bus company causing extended wait times. This ultimately resulted in the trip being cancelled.
“We coordinate through the Dean of Students office for off campus trips. They did in fact book a bus for us, but somehow the bus company didn’t write it down. We were sort of waiting there. Then when we finally were like, ‘Hey, maybe we should start to call people and find out what’s going on,’ it became clear that there was no bus coming. We had about 20 kids that were there ready to go, but we decided that was pushing the timeline far. We do plan on going next year and we will definitely confirm, reconfirm and re-reconfirm with the bus company,” said Wheeler.
Wheeler continued, “It’s a great cultural event for people that may not have had a lot of exposure to Native American cultures, to take a pretty quick bus ride (if the bus is running) to experience not just the drumming and dancing and singing, but also the vendors. It’s a neat way for students to engage with a culture that they probably have not had a lot of connections to.”
Azzaam Rahman ’27 had caught wind of the event through his History 300 class, as it piqued his interest as an opportunity for extra credit. Rahman also emphasized the importance of Andover student attendance at the powwow in terms of historic and cultural engagement.
“It’s especially important for Native American history, and important for us to learn about how Native American culture is still present today. It’s important for us to not just sit in a classroom and learn, but engage in a real world setting. I didn’t just do it for extra credit. That’s what piqued my interest, but I was interested in seeing something new and actually engaging with what we had been learning about,” said Rahman.
Dasha Gomez ’28 mentioned her excitement at the prospect of seeing the Native American dances. She also emphasized the scarcity of opportunities to engage specifically with Native American culture.
“We waited for 30 minutes or so before it was cancelled, so I felt disappointed because we waited a long time, but also it would have been nice to go off campus and see something so different. As Andover says, they acknowledge that we’re on Native land, but we don’t really get to explore that, and there’s not much representation here,” said Gomez.
Mercy Okoronkwo ’27 also felt curious about the event, and as a result, was disappointed at its cancellation. She conveyed the significance of the possibility of witnessing Native culture in person.
“In History 300, we were learning about Native Americans, and we were learning about matriarchs in the Native American societies. My teacher was talking about how the powwow was going to encompass the matriarchs. I wanted to go see that in person. I’ve never seen Native American culture live or in person, so I wanted to see the traditional wear, the food, the culture… I was watching a video on my computer, and I was sad that I didn’t get to see that in person,” said Okoronkwo.
