Suttons Bay Public Schools’ senior class of 2024 were honored at the district’s annual graduation powwow on Saturday afternoon. Families and friends gathered at the school gym to see their seniors celebrated with a presentation of blankets and an honor song, and there were also dance specials for the men and women, teens and toddlers.
Nathan Isaac was the MC, with the host drum being Swift Voice, and the invited drum Dusty Bear and Sharp Feather. Walker Stonefish was the head veteran, and the head male dancer was Zhaawon Smith. The junior head male dancer was Aydrian Day, the head female dancer was Keeley TwoCrow, and the junior head female dancer was Ava Anderson.
Samantha TwoCrow, Suttons Bay Public Schools Indigenous Education director, said the powwow is an opportunity for the public and school community to come together to recognize the seniors while honoring the Native American culture represented in the district. This year, TwoCrow said the turnout and participation was almost double what it was last year, with a fourth drum group even showing up to support the kids.
“I’m so grateful that the entire Suttons Bay community, school board, our teachers and administrators, our Native American community, our GTB (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians) tribal members, all of our tribal representation from all over the country, are here to celebrate and dance for our seniors,” TwoCrow said. “Our seniors felt loved. You can see it in their faces today. They were so enthused to be a part of this day, and we want to build our community to walk in one world… It’s an amazing time to have our cultural club facilitate an opportunity for all races to come together to honor each other with their blankets today.”
A total of 36 seniors will graduate in June, including the three indigenous students in the class, Keeley TwoCrow, Meisha Raphael, and Dennis Anderson. All three students are set to attend college after graduation with Raphael heading to Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, TwoCrow going to Northern Michigan University, and Anderson either Northern Michigan University or Northwestern Michigan College.
Keeley, one of the seniors and the lead head female dancer at the powwow, said holding the school event is important for many reasons, including teaching people about their culture and powwow etiquette.
“It brings my culture to my school and it brings that awareness to everyone around me just what it’s like being a Native American in this school,” Keeley said. “I love dancing and I love powwows, and the fact that it’s just right here, I can just come to it. I just love showing everyone what it is and explaining it.”
TwoCrow said the gifting of blankets ceremony is customary in Native American traditions to show gratitude and appreciation to those they care for. Each senior, as well as some of the Suttons Bay School staff, received a blanket from cultural club students.
“Our Suttons Bay staff has not participated in the powwows in years past, and we haven’t seen as much participation as we would like to see, but it’s growing,” TwoCrow said. “Because of that, our Native American and Hispanic students wanted to make sure that they (staff) felt appreciated because they do a lot of work for them year round… Our Native American students focused this year on making sure that any individual from Suttons Bay schools knew that they were welcome to come.”
