STEVE STEINER
Managing Editor
The weather worked in favor of the Natchez-Kusso Tribe’s 46th Annual Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe POWWOW, which ran April 21-22 in Ridgeville at the Dorchester Heritage Center.
As he did in 2022, Dr. John Creel, chief of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe, welcomed participating tribes and guests, as well as provided the history of the tribe and its presence in the area.
The Kusso Tribe has been in the area since at least the 1500s. The Natchez Tribe joined in the 1700s, having left Mississippi. Edisto was attached to the combined tribe name due to the fact the tribe was located at the Edisto River.
“We are one of nine recognized tribes in the state,” said Creel. He said the effort for it to be recognized by the federal government has been ongoing for several years. Being recognized by the federal government is important. “It will give us access to further funding.”
That funding may make it possible for the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe to acquire additional tribal lands.
Preserving Native American heritage was the theme Catherine Nelson touched on. She is with “Keepers of the Word.”
“One of the things we are doing is collecting songs and music. Not just from only the nine tribes, but of all our people,” Nelson said. She later explained that up until 1978, such music was illegal until the enactment of the American Indian Freedom Religious Act (AIFRA).
Attendance at this and other POWWOWs has been on the increase the past several years, according to David Spiritwalker, emcee. He said that included both tribal participation and of visitors, with the greatest growth in the number of visitors.
“The rise on the part of non-natives is up about 40% the past 15 years,” Spiritwalker estimated. He based that figure on the number of POWWOWS he attends, whether as an emcee or assistance director. He is present at approximately 25 each year.
During intermission, he was approached by several people who had a number of questions, and he invited them to join tribal members during intertribal and social dances.
WHAT IS THE AIFRA?
Known as the AIFRA, The law was enacted to return basic civil liberties to Native Americans, Inuit, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians, and to allow them to practice, protect and preserve their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religious rites, spiritual and cultural practices. These rights include, but are not limited to, access to sacred sites, freedom to worship through traditional ceremonial rites, and the possession and use of objects traditionally considered sacred by their respective cultures. (Sources: www.Congress.gov, www.NationalGeorgraphic.org, Wikipedia)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.natchezkussotribeofscedisto.website, There is also a Facebook site
