04/07/11

Story by Peggy Graham

Health and wellness pow wow

Health and wellness pow wow May 6-7 at JCCC

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The fifth annual American Indian Health Research and Education Alliance’s Our Nations Energies Health and Wellness Pow Wow will be from 5-10 p.m. Friday, May 6, and 10 a.m.-10 p.m., May 7, in the Field House of the Gymnasium at Johnson County Community College. The pow wow is free and open to the public.

The two-day pow wow includes arts, crafts, dance and drum competitions, healthy food and health screenings — cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure, vision, lung and cancer. Last year more than 815 people participated in health screenings during the AIHREA pow wow, one of the largest health and wellness pow wows in the country.  The Miss AIHREA and Jr. Miss AIHREA contest is Friday night.

The head staff for the event are emcee, Tim TallChief (Osage), Oklahoma City; arena director, Steve Byington (Choctaw), Lawrence; head gourd dancer, Art Norquay (Lakota), Parkville, Mo.; head gourd singer; Howard Cozad (Kiowa), Wichita; head man dancer, Larry Yazzie (Meskwaki/Dine’), Savage, Minn.; head lady dancer, Ponka-We Victors (Tohono O'odham/Ponca), Wichita; northern drum, Watson Park, Lawrence; color guard, Haskell Student Veterans Color Guard, Lawrence; Outgoing Miss AIHREA, Jovana Pretty Rose Friday (Northern Arapaho), Lawrence; and Outgoing Jr. Miss AIHREA, Nya Smith (Dine’/Osage), Overland Park.

There will be more than $12,000 in prize money for competitions. Complete schedule

The AIHREA is dedicated to the health and education of Native peoples and communities throughout the United States with two locations at JCCC and the University of Kansas Medical Center.

For pow wow information, call AIHREA at 913-469-8500, ext. 4570, or 913-945-7049, or visit www.AIHREA.com.

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