Dancing, crafts showcased at annual Powwow in Indiana Township

Lenny Kaminski burned white sage on Sunday as he displayed his wares at the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Annual Pow Wow.

He burns the sage, said to have spiritual powers by some Native Americans, when he carves the figures of First Nations people he sells each year at the event, held at the council’s center in the Dorseyville section of Indiana Township.

“I don’t want the American people to ever forget the trials and tribulations of the native people of this land,” said Kaminski of New Kensington. “I don’t want people to forget the oppression that the Indians have endured and continue to endure to this day.”

Almost all of his works are carvings of Native Americans. Kamin­ski said some of his customers have told him his work holds spiritual power.

That power might have been at work over the weekend as rain on Saturday and Sunday couldn’t dampen the spirits of the hundreds attending the two-day festival.

Sunday was filled with laughter, dancing and celebration as visitors enjoyed the gathering.

“This is our time to come together and hang out as friends and family, and enjoy our dancing,” said the center’s cultural coordinator, Michael Simms.

It is the 44th year for the event, which grew from humble beginnings at the center on land previously owned by the federal and state governments.

The center began as informal meetings among Native Americans in the Pittsburgh area, who began getting together to be among others like themselves. Simms said the gatherings moved to a one-room office on North Homewood Avenue in Pittsburgh and, eventually, grew to become the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center.

“Indian centers came about to help urban Indians have a place to go and call home,” Simms said. “It’s a place where they can practice their culture and work on their arts and crafts and share their ideas and learn teachings.”

Simms said these events typically are hosted all year, all over the country, with dancers competing for prize money.

The event celebrates the talents of American Indian dancers and their respective styles of dance, along with craftsmanship by local vendors that attended the gathering. The beat of drums filled the air throughout the day as Eagle Flight and War Paint hosted and co-hosted drums.

“We have vendors here from Maryland, Ohio, South Dakota, New York, New Jersey — even all the way up into Canada,” Simms said. “We have vendors that come down and come to our pow wow.”