Meaning

noun (informal) a quick private conference

noun a council of or with Native Americans

verb hold a powwow, talk, conference or meeting

originFrom an Eastern Algonquian language, probably Massachusett pauwau (“he uses divination; he practices magic or sorcery”) or Narragansett powwáw (“sorcerer, shaman”), ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *pawe·wa (“one who dreams”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0