Drum call to Oakland Beach

Posted 7/18/17

Drum call to Oakland Beach For the first time the Rhode Island Indian Council held its annual powwow in Oakland Beach over the weekend. The beat of drums that could be clearly heard as far away at St. Rita Church brought Dot Quinn to the event featuring

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Drum call to Oakland Beach

LIKE THE WIND: Honey Harris Collins joins in a dance around the fire open to all those who cared to join.

(Warwick Beacon photos)

POWWOW BEAT: The beat of the drum and chanting had people dancing.

(Warwick Beacon photos)

POWWOW CAT: Malika Smith, a member of the Narragansetts, was thrilled with her cat face. She purred.

(Warwick Beacon photos)

IT’S A GREAT PLACE: Darrell Waldron, executive director of the Rhode Island Indian Council, said Oakland Beach is the best site yet for the annual powwow. It was held in City Park last year.

(Warwick Beacon photos)

A SCRIBE IN NATIVE ATTIRE: Deborah Spears Moorehead, author of Finding Balance: The Genealogy of Massasoit's People and the Oral and Written History of the Seaconke Pokanoket Wampanoag Tribal Nation, is a regular at council powwows.

(Warwick Beacon photos)

VOLCANO GLASS: The blue hue of “volcano glass” – a clear obsidian – caught the eye of Marie Geoppo, who plans to fashion it into jewelry.

(Warwick Beacon photos)

Posted Tuesday, July 18, 2017 1:28 pm

For the first time the Rhode Island Indian Council held its annual powwow in Oakland Beach over the weekend. The beat of drums that could be clearly heard as far away at St. Rita Church brought Dot Quinn to the event featuring dancers, singers and drummers from the Narragansetts, Seaconke-Wampanoags and the Mashpee Wampanoags. Quinn found much more than Native Americans gathered in a circle with a fire in its center. There were vendors of Native American artifacts, pottery and weavings. Darrell Waldron, executive director of the council, found the Oakland Beach site with its cooling breeze and influx of people enjoying the beach the best yet for the powwow. He praised the city for its cooperation and Mayor Scott Avedisian’s extended visit on Saturday. In addition, he pointed out that the land is rich with Native American history. “We’ll be back,” he vowed.