Orville Little Owl sits in front of his Host Drum pounding out a spiritual rhythm beside 10 other American Indian drummers, watching his son Kendall Little Owl’s feet step to the rhythm.

Dressed in full American Indian regalia of carefully woven eagle feathers, beads and stitched patterns, 12-year-old Kendall dances in celebration of his people’s sacred tradition, glancing at his father. Seemingly hypnotized by the quickening rhythm and thundering beat, Kendall dances as his father’s Lakota chants sing to him.

The powwow was performed as part of the 34th Annual Symposium on the American Indian at Iowa State.

Organizers said the powwow is a sacred celebration of life and culture — not entertainment.

“People see this as what Indians are about — singing and dancing — and that’s a stereotype,” said Irma Wilson-White, symposium co-chairwoman and program assistant in the Office of Minority Student Affairs. “People come for the powwow … they come for the entertainment, and, by not going to the rest, that’s fostering a stereotype.”

More than 150 people attended the first Grand Entry of the powwow Saturday, almost 100 more than attended a lecture Friday that was part of the symposium.

Another trend organizers said is an obstacle to the powwow’s continuance is declining university support for American Indian studies and programs.

“There was a greater push [from the university] for Native American studies in the early ’70s and ’80s,” said Ben Bear, symposium chairman and powwow emcee, of his experience as a 1976 graduate of Iowa State. “At the same time, there was more of a push to recruit Native Americans on campus.”

American Indian student enrollment dropped from 79 to 68 in 2004, with a steady total of 10 American Indian faculty members, according to the ISU Fact Book.

“It’s kind of like the administration holds these things as a show that they support diversity, but it feels like lip service a lot,” said Scott Schaefer, graduate student in civil, construction and environmental engineering, who has worked with American Indian groups on campus for more than three years.

Wilson-White, Bear, Schaefer and others said there is an overall lack of diversity education on campus, citing cuts to the American Indian studies program.

“Look at what’s happened to the program. It’s not even a minor anymore. Next year, there will only be two professors teaching Native American studies,” said Jeanne Ballanger, past president of the ISU American Indian Science and Engineering Society. “I transferred from William Penn University four years ago because Iowa State had a Native American studies program, and now there’s nothing left.”

No ISU administrators were present at the powwow’s first Grand Entry from 1 to 4 p.m. Administrators were unavailable for comment because they were attending the Student Scholars and Leaders Recognition Ceremony.

Education has become a focus for American Indians, not only on college campuses, but elementary and high school campuses, as well.

“In today’s world, you have a lot of youth problems caused by the lack of cultural identity. They don’t have a home base — a strong foundation. A lot of our youth are lost,” Bear said.

This is why Little Owl encourages his son, who was the men’s head dancer, to come to the powwow for the last four years.

“We come to keep our culture alive and to educate people that don’t understand or don’t want to understand,” said Little Owl, whose family drove from Winnebago, Neb., to attend. “We need powwows like this to keep our tradition and values alive.”