'The heartbeat of the people,' 50th Oneida Pow Wow ends Sunday

The sounds and colors of the Oneida Pow Wow filled the Norbert Hill Center grounds for the 50th time, with everything from traditional dance competitions to handmade crafts.

• See the Grand Entry dance, which kicked off the last day of the Pow Wow
• Meet an artist selling his hand-made jewelry at the Oneida Pow Wow for the first time
• Hear from one family introducing a new generation to the Pow Wow traditions

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story with additional details for web.)

It's the final day of the 50th annual Oneida Pow Wow. I'm your Oneida neighborhood reporter Pari Apostolakos and I met one artist selling his work here for the first time.

"The drum is the heartbeat of the people, it's good medicine," artist and vendor Avery Red Cloud said while drumbeats echoed through the Pow Wow on Sunday.

The sounds and colors of the Oneida Pow Wow filled the Norbert Hill Center grounds for the 50th time Sunday. Dancers competed for more than $90,000 in prize money and artists like Avery Red Cloud sold their handmade goods.

For Red Cloud, that means Lakota-made quill work in the form of jewelry.

"Every single piece is pretty much magic, they have good energy within them," Red Cloud said while picking up his hand-crafted earrings. "So, here's like a butterfly, and here's a star. Stars are significant within our culture."

He's been to this Pow Wow before, but it's his first time as a vendor.

"To me it is a ceremony within itself. It is for healing," Red Cloud said. "I'm really glad that I'm here in Green Bay sharing my artwork here with the community here."

While at Red Cloud's booth, I ran into Vickie Richter from Green Bay. She says her family has been going to the Pow Wow for years.

"We used to bring our three children and now we're bringing our two girl grandchildren for the first time," Richter said.

I asked about their favorite part of the Pow Wow.

"The food, the dancing, all the crafts," Richter said. "Respect [for] the culture."

Oneida Nation Marketing and Tourism Director Michelle Danforth Anderson says more people have come to this year's Pow Wow than last year's, and last year's event brought in about 10,000 people.

The Pow Wow is set to end around 5 [p.m.] Sunday... At the Oneida Pow Wow, Pari Apostolakos NBC 26.