Dancing
Gourd Dance
Every year on Sunday afternoon FIHA holds a gourd dance. The Gourd Dance is a dance of the Southern Plains tribes. Though some times associated with a Pow-wow the Gourd Dance has its own unique style. Gourd Dancing may precede the pow-wow, or it can be a separate event, not directly connected with a pow-wow. The Gourd Dance gets it’s name from the gourds often used to make the ratles, today aluminum rattles are also calmon. The Gourd Dance originated with the Kiowa tribe, and is a man's dance. Women participate by dancing in place behind their male counterparts and outside the perimeter formed by the men. The Kiowa consider this dance as their dance since it was given to them by "Red Wolf"
A Kiowa story recounts the tale of a young man who had
been separated from the rest of the tribe. Hungry and dehydrated after many
days of travel, the young man approached a hill and heard an unusual kind of
singing coming from the other side. There he saw a red wolf singing and dancing
on its hind legs. The man listened to the songs all afternoon and through the
night and when morning came, the wolf spoke to him and told him to take the
dance and songs back to the Kiowa people. The "howl" at the end of
each gourd dance song is a tribute to the red wolf