Powwow, concert coming to Schaumburg
There's a party on this Saturday, and you're invited.
Trickster Gallery in Schaumburg, a 3-year-old center celebrating American Indian culture, is hosting a powwow and concert. The admission fee includes daylong performances by two singing/drumming groups and admission to four art exhibitions. Arts and crafts will be for sale and, to please the palate, so will party foods like fry bread, Indian tacos and corn soup.
Drum circle
When Chicago's own Cricketthill perform throughout the day, they'll set out a big drum and five or six singers will gather around it, drumsticks in hand, playing and singing in unison.
"The Chicago Indian community is very, very diverse," said Leonard Malatare of Trickster Gallery. "There are tribes here from all over the U.S. because of the 1950s relocation act, which brought Indians to Chicago."
Malatare said everyone -- and he means everyone -- should join in the day's festivities.
"The Native Americans believe that whenever we set our drum up like that, there are no borders," he said. "I don't care where you come from, when you're dancing around that big drum, you're Indian."
If the afternoon's activities are about celebrating tradition, the evening concert is about the future. When evening falls, guests are invited to stick around for a concert by trendy Oklahoma City band Culture Shock Camp, known for their innovative blend of traditional Indian music and hip-hop.
Popular act
"Culture Shock Camp is one the most influential Native American groups out there today," said gallery volunteer Monica Boutwell.
Proceeds from the powwow and concert benefit the Leonard Peltier defense fund. American Indian activist Peltier was convicted over 30 years ago of killing two F.B.I. agents on South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation and since 1976 has been serving two life sentences in prison.
Many, however, including groups like Amnesty International, believe Peltier is a political prisoner who never received a fair trail. Trickster Gallery is currently exhibiting a show of Peltier's paintings, all for sale, and proceeds also benefit his defense fund.
Malatare said he's pleased by how the village of Schaumburg has welcomed Trickster Gallery to the community. Their lease was recently extended to 20 years, he said, and the village has commissioned a $130,000 public sculpture that will stand in front of the gallery.
"Come on out and enjoy yourself, have fun, sing and dance," said Malatare. "Enjoy the Native American culture and the American Indian people of the Chicago area."