Hundreds of American Indian dancers, drummers, artists, craftsmen and cultural enthusiasts will converge on Carson City June 15-17 for the annual Stewart Father’s Day Powwow.
Honored by the American Indian Tourism Conference as the 2017-18 Best Cultural Heritage Experience, the event includes competition dancing, drum circles and a host of auxiliary activities, including a 5-K fun run.
Volunteers are being sought for this year’s event and anyone interested should contact Denise Becker at 775-687-7605 or dmbecker@nic.nv.gov.
The powwow events, which are free and open to the public, will be held on the grass at the former Stewart Indian School, 5500 Snyder Ave.
Sherry Rupert, executive director of the Nevada Indian Commission, said the event draws participants from tribes around the West and visitors from around the world — some coming from as far as Germany to attend the powwow.
The three-day event will kick off Friday with grand entry scheduled for 7 p.m. Grand entry is the grand procession of dancers into the powwow arena at the beginning of each session. Two sessions are scheduled on Saturday, from 1-5 p.m. and 7-11 p.m. and will wrap up on Sunday with festivities from noon-4 p.m.
Gridley Hilpert of Sun Valley will serve as the powwow’s master of ceremonies and Art Martinez of Carson City is the arena director.
New this year will be a special media area where photographers can photograph dancers and receive orientation on which dances are allowed to be photographed, which are not, and the reasons behind the traditions.
The second annual Color Fun Run is sponsored by the Washoe Tribe. The cost to participate is $20 for individuals; $10 for youths or $80 for teams of 5. The race will start and finish at the Stewart gym and will be run around the school’s campus. Registration is at 7 a.m. and the run starts at 8 a.m. For information about the fun run, call Filomena Smokey at 775-883-7794.
Vendors interested in participating in the event should contact Sari Nichols at 775-687-7603 or snichols@nic.nv.gov.
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