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- By Native News Online Staff
This weekend and next week, there’s an abundance of activity in Native communities — from Indigenous artists, dancers and musicians celebrating culture to a national contest that will determine who makes the tastiest Indian taco in all the land.
Here is Native News Online’s weekly round-up of arts, culture and entertainment offerings around Indian Country.
25th Annual Chumash Inter-Tribal Pow Wow 2022
When: Oct. 1-2
Where: Santa Ynez, CA,
The 25th Annual Chumash Inter-tribal Powwow brings together tribes from across the United States and Canada for a weekend of traditional song and dance to honor tribal ancestors. More than 300 Native American dancers and drummers from various tribes across the continent will compete for prize money from $75-$5,000.
The powwow is hosted at its new permanent home next to the Chumash Casino Resort and the site of the forthcoming Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indian Museum.
The Grand Dance starts on Oct. 1 at 12 p.m., followed by The Grant Entry at 1 p.m. Additionally, a healing ceremony will take place Oct. 1 from 5-7 p.m. All are welcome to join. Admission is $5.
Walk a Mile in Their Mocs
When: Oct. 1, 5-7 p.m.
Where: Prairie People's Park, Kansas
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Victim Services invites the public to raise awareness for domestic violence. The event includes face painting, hamburgers and hot dogs, and a balloon release to honor victims of domestic violence.
37th Annual Powwow of Love
When: Oct. 1, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Where: East Lansing, MI
This weekend marks the in-person return of Michigan State University’s (MSU) North American Indigenous Student Organization’s (NAISO) Powwow of Love.
This year’s powwow theme is “Reconnection,” represented in powwow being traditional rather than competitive, as the event was in the past.
“We have taken several measures to ensure inclusivity, including having a male and female MC, and gender-neutral dance style category names,” Powwow Planning Co-Chair and NAISO Board Co-chair Neely Bardwell told Native News Online. “By making it traditional, there won’t be that added stress and timidness associated with competition powwows for new dancers or those who are beginning their cultural, spiritual reconnection journey. We are all very excited to welcome community members from places all over the state, nation, and on campus, to our powwow.”
Doors open at 10 am. First grand entry is at 1 p.m. Second grand entry is at 7 p.m.
Indigenous Identities: Portraits of Native Americans in the Civil War Era
When: Oct. 1, 2022-Jan. 8, 2023
Where: Reading, PA
Indigenous Identities tells the stories of Indigenous people in the American West through a collection of 49 photographic portraits taken during the Civil War era (1846 – 1877). These images were collected as part of the Hayden Survey (later known as the US Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories) conducted by the Department of the Interior in 1871 to gather intelligence and open land to white settlers.
The photographs featured in the exhibition are part of a larger collection of 616 photographs assembled by photographer William Henry Jackson (1843-1942).
The portraits invite the viewer to examine Indigenous reaching to white expansions, ranging from staunch resistance to strategic tolerance, evidenced by the body language and dress of the portrait subjects.
National Indian Taco Championship
When: Oct. 1, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Where: Downtown Pawhuska, Oklah.
Back for its 18th year, The National Indian Taco Championships draws more than a dozen Indigenous cooks from all over the country to compete for a grand prize of $1,500 and the title of Indian Taco Champion.
Hosted by the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce, the event is free to attend and also features 30+vendors along with Indigenous dancers and drummers.
The Eastern Medicine Singers and Yonatan Gat
When: Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Empty Bottle, Chicago, Ill.
New York-based Israeli composer Yonatan Gat joins traditional Algonquin drum and vocal group Eastern Medicine Singers to play songs from their groundbreaking collaborative album, The Medicine Singers.
A long-time presence at powwows and Indigenous gatherings across the country, Eastern Medicine Singers played the popular South by Southwest festival in Austin in 2017. During their performance, Gat spontaneously joined the group on stage, leading to a creative partnership.
The Medicine Singers was recorded last year and released on Stone Tapes, an imprint of Indiana label Joyful Noise. The album combines traditional Native drum songs with heavy psych, electronica, spiritual jazz, and rock, and features Ojibwe and the Algonquian Massachusett dialect.
The Chicago Reader called the record, “A mutually transformative meeting of cultures with a sound that’s big enough to fill a forest."
Doors are 7:30 p.m. Tickets are sold out online, but are still available for purchase at the door.
Strange Lands: The Works of Tom Antell, Chris T. Cornelius and Sky Hopinka
When: Oct. 7, 2022 - Jan. 8, 2023
Where: West Bend, WI
In a collection of compelling works, Strange Lands brings together three Indigenous artists to explore the original sin of the violent removal of Native people from their land.
Hopinka is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. Antell is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa, and Chris T. Cornelius is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.
The artists explore landscape, memory and legacy to create an open-ended narrative that describes both personal and collective experiences.
Tom Antell uses cartoon imagery and dark humor in his paintings, playing out absurd, colorful allegories on the blasted agrarian landscapes of corporate farms and colonized fields. Strange Lands will be Antell’s first exhibition.
Chris T. Cornelius is an architect and Chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of New Mexico and the founding principal of Studio: Indigenous, a design practice serving Indigenous clients.
Sky Hopinka is an internationally acclaimed artist and filmmaker. His projects have been exhibited at the Tate Modern and the Whitney Biennial. “Perfidia,” an artist’s book that Hopinka published in 2020, translates from Spanish to “perfidy,” an act of treachery or betrayal.
11th Annual Cherokee Art Market
When: Oct. 9-8, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Okla.
Featuring more than 150 Indigenous artists representing tribes across the United States, the Cherokee Art Market returns to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tusla, Okla. Cultural demonstrations, including jewelry making, stamp techniques, katsina doll making, pottery, painting, basket weaving and more, take place each day from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
An opening reception will be held on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. in The Sky Room to welcome artists and guests. The artists will compete for $75,000 in total prize money awarded across 25 categories. Tickets for the award ceremony and reception are $25 and available for purchase at the door.
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