The Southern Utah University Native American Student Association has a social powwow and spring closing social to end the spring semester on Saturday, April 9, at 1 p.m. Students and community members can attend the events and learn more about the Indigenous cultures around Cedar City.
“This is a social pow-wow,” said Southern Utah University Miss Native American Jade Warren. “It is like a giant NASA showcase event.”
The social powwow will include grand entries at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Grand entries are a parade of color and sound that signifies the opening of sessions of a powwow where contestants have the opportunity to score points. It begins with the presentation of colors, starting with the eagle staff followed by the American flag, state flag and tribal flag. Any visiting royalty and other invited dignitaries then enter.
A round dance special,a contest that incorporates dancing and singing with hand drums, will be hosted by Lightning Horse from Farmington, New Mexico. Other dancing includes an Iron Man and Iron Woman competition at the powwow.
The Iron Man and Iron Woman competitions are an endurance based competition where male and female dancers dance to see who can last the longest.
“We are hoping this will help bring in dancers from all over the state and maybe even Arizona,” said Warren..
The head man of the powwow will be Kyle Secakuku of the Hopi tribe and the head woman will be Jade Warren of the Navajo/Apache Tribe. Alex Shepherd will host and the arena director will be Cal Lameman.
The powwow will also have raffles, concessions, games and prizes. Vendors are welcome to attend.
NASA will also be holding a spring closing social on Tuesday, April 12, in the Center for Diversity and Inclusion from 4-6 p.m. This event is open to everyone and will be offering free food and board games.
The purpose of NASA is to maintain and preserve cultural values and to promote Native American cultural awareness by providing SUU and the surrounding community with information during events and activities.
Bridget Y. Whiskers, the NASA president, said, “SUU Students and Cedar City community members are more than welcome to join our organization and learn more about Indigenous cultures through our various events.”
For more information about NASA, visit their Linktree to follow them on social media or email them at nativeasasuu@gmail.com.
Story by Callie King-Stevens
Photo courtesy of STIL
