SISU at the PowwowA celebration of Montana’s Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

A “drum circle” provides the beat.

Photo by Chen Xiaoying

Photo by Lin Li.

Students from across the globe joined in the dancing. Photo by Lin Li.

Dancer in wolf costume. Photo by Li Huizhong.

A tribal elder with a feathered staff led dancers into the circle for the Snake Dance, a serpentine dance held to honor the dancers’ achievements over the year.

Photo by Yu Shijie

The Snake Dance

A dancer’s clothing is often the result of countless hours of work. Note the handmade beadwork on this elder’s clothes. Photo by Zhang Kaiju.

Powwows offer tribal members an opportunities to renew their ties with friends

and relatives from across Indian Country.

Photo by Tang Jinglei

A time for

reunions

Dancers across the generations. Photo by Zhang Kaiju.

Spectators from across the U.S.A. and from around the

globe watch the dancers. Many of the songs and

dancers honored the contributions by Native

Americans.

Photo by Chen Yijun

An “honor dance

SISU journalists at work: Jiang Yiyun, in the straw hat, uses her Ipad to capture video of the Snake Dance during the powwow. Later, she and some of her classmates joined in the dancing. Photo by Clem Work

Our class, from left, includes Zhang Kaiju, Lin Li, Tang Jinglei, Chen Yijun, Yu Shijie, Li Huizhong and Chen Xiaoying. Laura Scheer, a graduate student at UM was one of our guides. (Not pictured: Lu Nan and Jiang Yiyun) Photo by Clem Work.