Head dancers and retiring leader bring meaning to CSULB Pow Wow
The 52nd annual CSULB Pow Wow — the largest and oldest continuously running student-sponsored event on campus — makes its much-anticipated return to campus this weekend, March 8 and 9. This time, it will be held in a new location — the intramural rugby and soccer fields on lower campus, instead of the Upper Campus Quad, where it had been for decades.
The reason for the change? More space.
“What became clear — we have outgrown our location. And so, just the density was too much,” said Craig Stone, a retiring faculty member in American Indian Studies and a longtime participant and organizer of the powwow.
The new location, which offers a good view of Walter Pyramid, should also accommodate many more people, along with their tents, or canopies.
In anticipation of the gathering — also known as the CSU Puvungna Pow Wow — here’s a look at three participants who will be playing key roles during the weekend.
Les Peters
For Les Peters ‘01, the CSULB Pow Wow runs in the family. He’s the head man dancer this year, as he was back in 2004. His wife, Anna Nazarian-Peters, is director of Student Life & Development at The Beach, coordinator of American Indian Student Services, and a lecturer in American Indian Studies.
Their daughter, Maral, is currently a third-year student in art illustration. She designed the logo for the sold-out Puvungna Pow Wow T-shirt last year, and by popular demand, is illustrating it again this year. Maral is also a member of the American Indian Student Council, and part of the tabulation team that adds up points and keeps track of all the dancers.
“For me, powwow means a coming together. It’s a celebration,” said Peters, who graduated from The Beach with a bachelor’s degree in film and electronic arts. He co-teaches a powwow class and also teaches an ethnic studies course online.
“It’s a chance to meet new friends, old friends, and keep up those relationships. It’s kind of like a big family reunion in a sense. It’s not a show; it’s a celebration.”
As head man dancer, Peters will be expected to lead the dancers out into the arena. “You have to be a seasoned dancer yourself,” he said. “You have to know the different dances, the different songs. The dancers see you out there dancing and they’re going to be modeling that behavior.”
Peters, who is Yakama and Diné (or Navajo), is also the caretaker of a staff that an elder and alumnus gifted to the university more than 20 years ago. “You have to act a certain way in the community. I was given that burden, that task, and it’s a lifelong task. I have to take care of it, and people ask me to bring it out. The community knows that Les is the keeper for the staff, and it’s an honor.”
Larissa Bohay
Larissa Bohay, a Long Beach resident, is head woman dancer for this year’s powwow.
She is half Kiowa, half Bishop (or Northern) Paiute, and the CSULB Pow Wow also runs in her family. Her grandfather Phil was one of the founders of the powwow, helping to get it going in 1969. Her father, Steve, is president of the Golden State Gourd Society and has been involved in the powwow for decades.
Her brother Eric, a geography student at The Beach, served as head Southern singer at last year’s powwow.
“The head woman dancer is someone who’s very respected in the community,” said Peters, who first met Larissa when she was a child at the powwow. “Her family has been a part of the powwow culture for many generations.”
Bohay has participated in powwows across the West. Last year, she won first place in Women’s Southern Cloth/Buckskin at the CSULB Pow Wow. She often posts her powwow experiences on social media.
Craig Stone
Stone ’78, ‘80, who has participated in the CSULB Pow Wow since the early 1970s and was on the Pow Wow committee as a student in 1976, is officially retiring after this academic year. Though he will still attend as a participant, he won’t serve as an organizer anymore, at least in an official capacity.
The powwow “is a celebration of life, and for me, it’s an enormous reunion of all of these people who we’ve gathered with, danced with, sung with, prayed with, and been part of their giveaway ceremonies for over 50 years,” he said. “It’s also, for me, a remembering all of the themes that have taken place at our annual celebration of life.”
Stone said he felt more a sense of pride than loss. “I respect and trust the people who will be taking over. We have staff who work at Cal State Long Beach who are part of this culture, understand the history, who participate themselves. To be able to go to the powwow and dance and sing and not worry about all the other stuff you have to worry about — that will be nice.”
The aspect he’ll miss the most is being faculty advisor to the American Indian students at CSULB. “I’ve done that for 36 years. So I will miss the weekly interaction, and also, we interact all year long. Both my wife and I will miss the weekly interaction and the planning, sharing our histories and the meanings of these things. That is going to be a notable loss.”
But he’ll still be around in the future — perhaps in the alumni tent, he said.
