Enlarge Waya Dimalanta, 29, and Nathan Campbell, 9, were among the "fancy dancers."

Posted: November 8th, 2011 Lee Howard

Waya Dimalanta, festooned from head to toe in yellow feathers and crowned with a beaded headdress, stood out in the morning sun Saturday against a crowd of “fancy dancers” at the third annual American Indian Heritage Month Celebration.

The Charlotte Museum of History hosted the day-long event, which was sponsored by Many Journeys, an organization formed three years ago by cousins and Lumbees Dana Lowery-Ramseur and Will Lowry. Dimalanta was among more than 50 dancers who presented exhibition dancing and a turquoise rainbow performance. The event also included booths offering Native American jewelry, multicolored serapes and feathered dream catchers.

Dimalanta, a member of the Lumbee and Saponi tribes, says his dance was a powwow, a familiar expression to many non-Native Americans who have no idea what it really means. The powwow, often a competitive dance, attempts to express gratitude to The Creator, Dimalanta explains.

“We like to share our culture with others, so that everybody understands us,” he says. 

Charlotte-based Boy Scout Troop 144 presented the colors during the opening ceremonies. Troop leader Tim Otten, himself a Lumbee, says the event helps the boys in his troop earn requirements toward their Native American lore merit badges. But it also introduces them to much more. 

“It suprises even me how many different Native American cultures are in our area,” he says, adding, “An event like this brings our history back to life.”

Lowery-Ramseur scurried among the visitors and performers, helping coordinate the day’s events. But she took a moment to underscore real American Indian heritage. As a librarian at Northwest Cabarrus High School, Lowery-Ramseur says she often speaks to students about the true nature of her culture. She debunks notions of women clad in leather skirts.

Her dress Saturday was a full-length cotton affair more reminiscent of what the Pilgrims might have worn. But, unlike the Puritan women of history, Lowery-Ramseur’s dress included an apron marked with a highly stylized pine cone, a symbol of independence and strength for Lumbees. 

As Europeans settled North Carolina, it was much more common for Lumbees to wear woven cotton clothing. Pressed into service in the fields, the Lumbees usually picked the cotton they eventually wove and wore. The stereotype of the deerskin-clad Indian maiden is a Hollywood convention.

“It gets hot in North Carolina,” Lowery-Ramseur says. “And we didn’t live in teepees, either.”

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