Major pow-wows or pow-wows called for a special occasion can be up to one week long.
Pow-wows can vary in length from a single session of about 5-6 hours to three days with one to three sessions a day. Typically, a pow-wow consists of people (Native American and non-Native American alike) meeting in one particular area to dance, sing, socialize, and generally have a good time. The word has also been used to refer to any meeting, but especially a congress, a friendly gathering, or a meeting of powerful people such as officers in the military.Īn early twenty-first century pow-wow is a specific type of event held by Native Americans. It has since come to be used to describe any gathering of Native Americans of any tribe, and as such is occasionally heard in older Western movies. It derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning shaman. A pow-wow (sometimes powwow or pow wow) is a gathering of Native Americans.
