Saginaw Grant

Many Los Angeles artists stand with a foot in each of two different worlds, traveling back and forth between the entertainment industry and their home cultures. But Saginaw Grant knows what it means to make the trek on a weekly basis. A member of the Sac and Fox tribe of Oklahoma, Grant is both a traditional Native American dancer and a working TV and film actor. And for the past 10 years, he's juggled his weekday acting assignments with weekend trips to tribal gatherings where he dances.

Many Los Angeles artists stand with a foot in each of two different worlds, traveling back and forth between the entertainment industry and their home cultures. But Saginaw Grant knows what it means to make the trek on a weekly basis. A member of the Sac and Fox tribe of Oklahoma, Grant is both a traditional Native American dancer and a working TV and film actor. And for the past 10 years, he's juggled his weekday acting assignments with weekend trips to tribal gatherings where he dances.

About 400 elementary school students gathered at Hansen Dam Recreation Area on Friday to learn about Native American culture as part of the fourth annual Los Angeles Intertribal Pow Wow. Saginaw Grant, who will serve as this year's emcee, told students about the history of Native Americans. "The powwow is about nurturing a spirit of generosity and caring among people," Grant said later.

Bring your drums and dancing spirit to a powwow hosted by the Oakbrook Regional Park Chumash Interpretive Center on Saturday and Sunday. Arts and crafts, food, raffles and pony rides will mark the occasion, and Apache, Fox Nation, Ohlone and Kiowa dancers will perform throughout the day. The head man dancer this year is Saginaw Grant of the Sac and Fox nations. At 1:30 p.m. both days, visitors will have a chance to learn about the different tribes and their regalia during special presentations.

More than 100 Native Americans participated in last weekend's "Honoring Our Youth Powwow and Native American Gathering," which included arts and crafts, storytelling, dancing and an all-day barbecue, officials said Monday. The powwow helps Native Americans celebrate their culture and serves to educate non-Native Americans, said Gordon Hall, a Native American who attended Saturday's event.

The public is invited to Buena Park's 29th annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on Thursday. Mayor Jerry Sigler will preside over the event, at which several ministers will pray and read passages from the Old and New Testaments. Saginaw M. Grant, an author, artist and actor, will be the keynote speaker and KTLA-TV personality Ed Arnold will serve as master of ceremonies. The Winton Sisters, a trio of local singers, will perform. The event begins with coffee at 7 a.m. Breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m.

Four Native American men and two young boys, wearing brightly colored headdresses and traditional dress, moved in unison in a tight circle to the pounding tribal drum music. But it was no rain dance led by Saginaw Grant of the Sac and Fox nation. That was too dangerous under Sunday's mostly cloudy skies, said the organizers of the 21st annual Spring Powwow at Cal State Northridge.

At its birth nine years ago, American Indian Dance Theatre resembled the long-established Moiseyev, Bayanihan, Ballets Africains and Ballet Folklorico companies in its emphasis on variety. Like those pioneer predecessors, it offered an array of theatricalized regional suites: ethnic vaudeville, strongly performed. Increasingly, however, its programs have focused on a visionary pan-Indian identity more than the histories and traditions that make each tribe unique.

A procession of Native American descendants wearing elaborate eagle- and hawk-feather headdresses moved their moccasin-covered feet to a steady drumbeat. One leader held the American flag while another clutched a Native American flag--a wooden staff covered with eagle feathers. Richard "Blackbear" Angulo said a prayer in the Chumash language before a crowd of a few thousand who attended the 10th annual Everything Is Sacred Pow-Wow on Sunday at Borchard Community Park in Newbury Park.

Moving to the beat of a drum made of redwood, moose hide and eagle feathers, Native American elders danced with children inside a large circle of spectators at UC Irvine's second annual powwow Saturday at Aldrich Park. Co-sponsored by the American Indian Student Assn., the celebration of traditional dancing, music, arts and crafts drew about 250 people to the campus.

Through ancient ceremonial dance, Saginaw Grant told stories about hunting expeditions, celebrations and battles Saturday at Cal State Fullerton. "This next dance tells about my past adventures," said Grant, a 60-year-old member of the Sauk-Fox tribe, during a break between performances. "All these dances tell a story. We're not just jumping and hollering out here. We're telling about events, about combat, about family traditions, about people and about what we would like to see on Mother Earth.