Drums and traditional dance filled Calcedeaver Elementary School on Friday as the Mount Vernon school hosted its 18th annual Culture Fest, celebrating the heritage of the MOWA Choctaw Indians.
More than half of Calcedeaver’s students are MOWA Choctaw. Every student at the school studies Indian Education, and Culture Fest — known as the “Calcedeaver Pow Wow” — gives them a chance to show their parents and the wider community what they’ve learned throughout the year.
The boys learn traditional drumming, while boys and girls alike study traditional dancing.
Lead Dancers Take the Floor
This year’s celebration featured Annslee Snow as head lady — the lead female dancer — and Delsyn Weaver as head man, the lead male dancer.
Mobile County Public Schools shared photos from the event, calling it a fun day honoring the traditions of the MOWA Choctaw people. The festival has become one of north Mobile County’s most treasured annual school traditions since its founding nearly two decades ago.