The 49th Annual Mdewankanton Wacipi sponsored by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe was held on July 15th – 17th , at the Pow Wow grounds north of town.
The Tribal Maintenance Department and the FSST Buffalo/Land Management Department were in charge preparing the Pow Wow Grounds after the unusually heavy rains and tornado that that pasted through town on July 1st. They did a great job in having the grounds and arena ready for the Pow Wow weekend.
This year’s Pow Wow was extremely hot, surprising worse than the previous years wacipi. The Wacipi details as follows:
Golden Age- 38
Senior Adults - 78
Adult registered dancers – 98
Teen registered dancers- 45
Junior registered dancers – 73
Tiny Tot registered dancers – 93
Women registered for the traditional special – 21
Visiting Royalty-43
Total-446
Men’s Traditional Special Winners:
Nathan Smith ($1,500) 1st place
Chaske LaBlanc ($1,000) 2nd place
Terry Fiddler ($ 500) 3rd place
Women’s Traditional Special Winners:
Jena Gilpin ($1,500) 1st place
Marilynn Mountain ($1,000) 2nd place
Cheyenne Fiddler ($500) 3rd place
FSST DRUM CONTEST WINNERS:
Standing Horse ($4,000) 1st place from Rapid City, SD
Yankton Sioux ($3,000) 2nd place from Wagner, SD
White Tail Boyz ($2,000) 3rd place from Macy, NE
Registered drums: TZ Boys, Short Foot Creek, Ho-Chunk Station, Flandreau, Eagle Creek, Buffalo Lake Singers, Whitetail, Crazy Bull, Northern Scouts, Red Storm, Yankton Sioux, Omaha Lodge, Soggy Bottom Boys, White Cloud, Spirit Lake, Ridge Runners, Sioux Echoes, Eagles Nest, White River Crossing, Eagle Creek, Hemaza, Eagle Feather, The Lodge, and Eagle Town.
The Miss FSST 2011 Princess contest winner Brianna Greybull of enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Sisseton, SD.
The Junior Miss 2011 Princess contest and the winner was Quinntessa Bass of the Winnebago tribe of Nebraska Ho-Chunk.
The year’s turnout was less than last year’s most likely due the extreme heat that swept across the Midwest. Dancing had to be halted for the safety concerns due to the sweltering conditions. But the majority of the attendees braved the heat for a while at least before seeking the relief of air conditioned surroundings.
To FSST WACIPI COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
I’d like to give a big thank you to all my committee members for an awesome turn out for our 49th annual pow wow: Scott Anderson, Mike Weston, Leah Fyten, Cyndi Weddell, Francis Wakeman Jr, Tom Allen, Ryan Kills A Hundred, and to Sheila Eastman, Brooki Corcoran, and Sandy Wakeman for all your help. The temperatures were almost unbearable but we pulled through it and worked hard. I’d also like to say thank you to all our Security workers: Steven Cadotte, Rick Blue, Scott Anderson Jr, Aaron Fisherman, Travis Anderson, and anyone else that worked security during the weekend- you’re help was very much appreciated. Also thank you to Josette Peltier for your prayer for our community and of course our maintenance crew for all your help. I felt really good throughout the weekend to see so many dancers and hear a lot of great singing. I just want to express my gratitude again for everyone who was a part of the wacipi that I did not mention; I appreciate everyone’s hard work. It was very awesome to hear peoples’ remarks about our wacipi and to hear that they enjoyed themselves regardless of the heat. Lastly but certainly not least thank you to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Executive Committee and the Royal River Casino for all the assistance which made the wacipi possible. Nina Wopida.
-Sincerely,
Angie Holy Bull
Wacipi Chairwoman |
