MEANING OF THE WORD "POWWOW"
"Powwow was an Algonquin term, "pau-wau" or "pauau", which referred to a gathering of medicine men and spiritual leaders. "Pau-wauing" referred to a religious ceremony, usually one of curing. In the 1800's the European explorers observing these religious gatherings and dances mispronounced the word as powwow. Jennings, The Invasion of America, p. 241. In 1646 the Massachusetts General Court decreed that “no Indian shall at any time pawwaw, or perform outward worship to their false gods, or to the devil....” ~From William Marder
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