After years of not having a smoke dance competition at the Grand River Champions of Champions Pow Wow, the event will see the traditional social dance be included once again this weekend.

Bubba Martin, Grand River Champions of Champions Pow Wow committee member, said one of the reasons for the smoke dance hiatus was that with the smoke dance and rain dance being similar, it was believed that the dances were bringing inclement weather. Martin says at that time, the committee listened to elders from the community and chose to take a break from including smoke dances in the event.

"Some of our songs are very close to our rain songs and so if there was a change of a word or anything like that, it can change from a smoke dance song to a rain dance song," he said. "We had rain for a couple years when we did do the smoke dances, so as a committee we turned around and we looked at that and we said 'well okay, lets take a break and not have smoke dances.' So from then, we've had some good weather, some sunshine and some heat, so whether or not that was a contributing factor or not. But also at the same point we listened to our elders at that time."

Martin said they are excited to bring the dance back, adding that due to the face pace of the smoke dance, it's able to bring an energetic feel to the event.

"Smoke dance is a very fast paced dance and it is a Six Nations and Haudenosaunee style of dance, so it is different from Pow Wow dancing," he said. "It's a social kind of dance but it's very different from our other social songs. It's very fast paced, you'll see a lot of movements with feet, the whole body, people will turn around and will spin and they'll twirl and that's very different from our other social dances that we would do here in our Haudenosaunee communities," he continued. "A lot of people very much enjoy dancing it, and very much enjoy watching it and because it's such a fast pace, high movement. The energy of that dance is great."

There will be four different age groups for the Smoke Dance Special that will take place Friday evening. To learn more information on each age group and the prizes for the Smoke Dance Special, visit the Facebook page.

The Champions of Champions Pow Wow will also feature traditional dances like the grass dance, jingle dance, and fancy dance competitions, traditional drumming and singing competitions, over 100 artisan and craft vendors, and 30 food vendors.

The Pow Wow will take place at the Ohsweken Speedway from July 21-23. Visitors will be offered free admission during Friday, July 21 to enjoy the Smoke Dance Special. Weekend admission information can be found here.

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