North Platte, Neb. ? This western Nebraska community came alive with the vibrant music, dress and culture of the Lakota tribe during this weekend’s Omanisa Wacipi Pow Wow.

More than 200 American Indian dancers in feathered headdresses and brightly colored, beaded traditional wear swayed and twirled to the music that played at the North Platte Community College gymnasium Saturday.

Among the traditions displayed were the hand games that have been passed down “since the beginning,” Lakota studies teacher Mike Carlow said.

“These games have been a part of us since creation,” Carlow said. “We keep the kids interested, teach them about their heritage so they can pass it on so (the hand game) will survive.”

Bones and sticks are the key features of the game Carlow taught attendants of the powwow.

The object of the game is to end up with the other team’s sticks by guessing in which hand members of the other team are holding the bone pieces.

Since playing pieces are made of bone, it is believed that the spirits sent the game to the tribe and that the spirits come to watch — and sometimes influence — the game’s outcome.

“The team that cheats is being influenced by the bad spirits,” Carlow said. “But the team that plays fair is influenced by the good spirits.”

To ward off the bad spirits, drums and rattles are played.

Area residents watched the game and other events from the stands Saturday, some sampling traditional Indian tacos.

Frank Jamerson of Rapid City, S.D., said music is integral to tribal culture.

“We use music in everything, from memorial songs to the birth of a child,” Jamerson said. “Mothers-to-be sing lullabies to their children before they’re born. We like to honor or praise one another with special songs.”

Jamerson showed several drums, some made of elk or deer hide, and demonstrated drumbeats, known as the heartbeat of Native culture.