Members of an American Indian group at Kansas University are sharing their culture this weekend at a powwow.

KU’s First Nations Student Assn. will have its fourth annual powwow Saturday at Robinson Center, 1301 Sunnyside Ave. Grand Entry, when all dancers enter the arena, begins at 7 p.m.

“We do this every year to give everybody at KU a chance to be exposed to Native American culture,” said Ryan Red Corn, an Osage from Pawhuska, Okla. “I hope a lot of people come because it’s an experience that goes beyond the images they get in the media — Westerns, mascots and things like that.”

Red Corn, 25, spoke at a KU Office of Multicultural Affairs noon forum Thursday on powwow etiquette. He was joined by Mekko Tyner, a Muskogee Creek-Shawnee Seneca from Tulsa, Okla.

“Don’t go in the arena unless the emcee calls everybody in,” Red Corn said. “And don’t take pictures during contests because it can be distracting. Otherwise, it is usually OK to take pictures or record the music, but you should ask first as a courtesy.”

“Just come and enjoy yourself,” said Tyner, a former student body president at Haskell Indian Nations University. “It’s usually a good idea to bring a lawn chair.”

The powwow, which is free, is one of several April events planned in conjunction with Native American Month.

In Kansas, powwows tend to blend northern and southern styles of drumming and singing.

6News video: KU learns etiquette of powwow Spring 2004 KU Pow Wow information KU First Nations Student Association

“The northern style is a little higher-pitched and faster than southern style,” Red Corn said. “Southern style starts out slow and builds as it goes along.”

Most of the singing, Tyner said, is “a melody” rather than lyrics in the sense of a ballad or pop song. The exception, he said, is when someone presents a friend or elder with an honor song.

“That’s pretty rare,” he said.