In Helena Montana we heard news that there was a Pow wow happening on the other side of the valley. The En-Kata crew just came back from an evening performance and didn’t know if they could find the energy within themselves to go to this recommended Pow wow. Nevertheless, we threw on our winter jacket sleeping bags and took off across the valley. Martha’s retelling of the story goes something like this. “We were so mad at Jacob for telling us we should go to this Pow wow. We were so tired, but as soon as we got to the parking lot, we heard the drums and looked around. We walked into the stadium holding tightly to Jo’s arms. There were beating drums, vibrant colors, and hundreds of people dancing and singing and clapping. People were wearing feather head dresses and beaded garments, they even had jewelry on their ankles like we do. Everybody was so beautiful in every different color. Everything reminded us of the choir contest at home.”

As soon as we entered the building, one of the coordinators of the Pow wow welcomed us with questions of who we were. He was thrilled to hear we were the Maasai from Tanzania. At this specific Pow wow, there were about 6-8 tribes from all over North America represented. What an honor it was to have yet another tribe present from the other side of the world.

The drums kept rolling as different groups of dancers competed and families and friends cheered them on.

The Maasai were asked to sing and dance!

When talking to a woman about how blessed we were to be received by these people, a women said to me, “We know what it is to live in poverty. We know how to share.” And that they do, after we sang a women laid out a blanket for people to donate money towards the school being built in Maasailand. Martha and Nemburis said “Everybody came up and helped us build our school,  and they shook our hands. Even one man who couldn’t walk, he came up in his wheelchair and his wife had to lift his arm for him so that he could throw in a handful of dollar bills. We didn’t expect this to happen.”

The Maasai are often asked “what’s your favorite part about America.” Ever since the minute before the Powwow, the answer has been “the roads are good, there is much water”. But now, it’s “the Pow wow. Kabisa.” (Really a lot).