Photo by Craig FritzTribune

Tribune

At his home on Sandia Pueblo, George Bearskin takes measurements for a grass dance skirt he'll wear during the Gathering of Nations Powwow this weekend. Bearskin estimates his family will travel about 40,000 miles during the next few months going to powwows from Denver to Niagara Falls.

Photo by Craig FritzTribune

Tribune

Mariah Bearskin, 12, works on a beaded headband for her aunt at the Sandia Pueblo home of her grandmother, Jessica Bearskin. "We're really in two worlds," Jessica Bearskin says. "We're doing our native lifestyle and still living in the mainstream to survive and pay our bills."

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With thundering drums and melodic chants filling the air, George Bearskin stepped into an ocean of vibrant colors to perform his traditional Grass Dance.

As his family and girlfriend, Tasha, watched intently from the stands, Bearskin took part in one of the many intertribal dances at the Black Eagle Powwow inside the Santa Ana Event Center at the Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo last week.

It's a scene that played out countless times during the two-day powwow Friday and Saturday, and it's a scene that will captivate thousands of visitors during the 24th annual Gathering of Nations Powwow, which begins today in Albuquerque.

For the hundreds of tribes and thousands of families participating in the Gathering of Nations, powwows are an intimate expression of culture and tradition. But for families like the Bearskins, they also represent the other half of a delicately balanced lifestyle.

When they aren't consumed by school or work schedules, the Bearskins spend time practicing dances, handcrafting traditional regalia to wear and driving thousands of miles together to powwows across the country.

"We're really in two worlds," said Jessica Bearskin, whose son George Bearskin and daughter Ria Thundercloud are both dancers. "We're doing our native lifestyle and still living in the mainstream to survive and pay our bills."

For Thundercloud, 16, a dancer since age 4, those two worlds mean being a sophomore at La Cueva High School and a "Fancy Shawl" dancer at powwows.

The Fancy Shawl dance is intended to mimic the motion of a butterfly, she said. It also requires many hours of practice in addition to the weeks necessary to sew together thousands of tiny beads for her regalia.

"I learned to dance and bead from my mother," she said. "It keeps me out of trouble, but it's hard to find time for everything."

With hundreds of gatherings across the United States and Canada, George Bearskin, 29, said preparing for the powwow season requires careful scheduling.

"I'm old enough to know that if you want to powwow and go to school, only get classes Monday through Thursday," said George Bearskin, who like his sister, represents both the Sandia and Ho-Chunk tribes. "You don't want to ruin your work and school life because you didn't plan ahead."

George Bearskin estimates his family will travel about 40,000 miles during the next few months going to powwows from Denver to Niagara Falls.

In addition to practicing Grass Dancing and coordinating road trips, George Bearskin is also a full-time student at the University of New Mexico and works two jobs, one with a campus organization and the other as a youth mentor at Garfield Middle School.

Despite the complexity of keeping in rhythm with two worlds, the Bearskins said they enjoy powwowing because it means a lot of family time and a chance to network.

"It's also about economy and a chance to sell goods and crafts," said George Bearskin. "Plus, family comes in from out of town and our doors are always open."

While aspects of their mainstream lives, such as homework and day jobs, sometimes pull at their relationships, social networking tools like the MySpace Web site help keep the American Indian community together between powwows.

There is a big following over the Internet, George Bearskin said.

"It's like a popularity contest online," he said. "People post their new regalia, their awards at shows and a lot of pictures and videos of powwows."

When the final ceremonies conclude the Gathering of Nations, no doubt many stories, photos and videos will find their way onto sites like MySpace. But it's just another step in the evolution of native culture to accommodate living in two worlds.

"My grandpa used to say that the native people are here because it's our ability to adapt," George Bearskin said. "Look at all of the tribes practicing their traditions, and they still live every day in another world, but when we come home, we still have to be native."