Afterword

Abstract

My interest in “tribal fantasies” began with the recently elected European “Powwow Princess” and her role in the European powwow scene. One of my research interests looks at the transcultural exchange of powwow culture,¹ a way of life with origins in Native North America, yet played out in international, European circles for the past twenty-five years. Not only has powwow gone global, but the side-events of powwow culture have also been reimagined in Europe: 49’s, Give-Aways, and princess pageants. European reimaginings of powwow culture reflect not only a fascination with Indigenous intertribal song and dance, but moreover instill a longed-for tribal fantasy that no longer exists in European lands. The European powwow circuit is largely void of Indigenous presence; however, there are still many active American Indians and First Nations people who live and thrive in Europe and partake in the European powwow scene and can thus challenge, question, and either support or counter the activities as they are taking place. Their limited presence is a marker of Native survivance, albeit dislocated from their traditional territorial homelands in Indian Country. It is, therefore, appropriate that Tribal Fantasies is in a collection in a European Studies series, as the chapters in this volume look at representations that are removed from contemporary Indigenous places, politics, and issues, or look at issues in which Native voices are absent, as are the Natives