Ho-Chunk Powwows and the Politics of TraditionHo Chunk powwows are the oldest powwows in the Midwest and among the oldest in the nation, beginning in 1902 outside Black River Falls in west central Wisconsin. Grant Arndt examines Wisconsin Ho Chunk powwow traditions and the meanings of cultural performances and rituals in the wake of North American settler colonialism. As early as 1908 the Ho Chunk people began to experiment with the commercial potential of the powwows by charging white spectators