Prior Lake, Minnesota - Visitors to the Mall of America will have the opportunity to watch singers and dancers perform at a dance exhibition in the Rotunda at the Mall of America on Thursday, August 14, 2008. Dancers from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and other Indian tribes from throughout the United States will perform dance exhibitions as a preview to the annual SMSC Wacipi (Pow Wow) which begins the next day on the SMSC in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Traditional music will be provided by Native American singers for dancers in full regalia. The exhibition dancing will be held at 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. An American Indian Master of Ceremony will be on hand to explain to the crowd what is going on in the arena, and two drum groups will sing special songs for each style of dance. In addition to a Grand Entry Song, a Flag Song and Veterans Song will be sung.

Each dance exhibition will begin with a Grand Entry. Because Native Americans hold their veterans in high regard, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Vietnam Veterans will be present as well as other veterans. SMSC Vice-Chairman Glynn Crooks, U.S. Navy, Vietnam Veteran dressed in his traditional regalia, will enter first carrying a staff of eagle feathers along with veterans who will carry other flags and eagle feather staffs. Then all the dancers will file into the arena by dance category. During the dance exhibition there will be many types of dancing by both male and female adults, teen, and child dancers. They will wear spectacular, colorful regalia specific to their dance styles, which include feather bustles, bells, beadwork, buckskin, moccasins, shawls, and more. Information about the SMSC Community and its enterprises will also be available.

This dance exhibition kicks off a weekend of celebrating Native American culture at the Annual Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Wacipi (Pow Wow), August 15, 16, and 17, 2008, in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Admission is $5. Admission is free for children 10 years and under and for elders 60 and over. More than 1,000 dancers from around the country are expected to compete during the Wacipi, attracting thousands of visitors each day. Held outdoors in a traditional dance arena, the Pow Wow will feature several Native American vendors with arts, crafts, beadwork, jewelry, quillwork, and Native American foods for sale, including frybread, wojapi (berry pudding), wild rice, hominy soup, buffalo burgers, Indian tacos, and much more.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community operates the Mystic Lake Store at the Mall of America located on the second level near Sears. The store sells concert tickets, books hotel rooms, provides bus service to Mystic Lake Casino, and distributes information about Indian Gaming in Minnesota.

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