The Carolina Indian Circle is hosting its 32nd annual Powwow at Fetzer Gym A on March 2. Doors will open at 10 a.m. The CIC hosts the Powwow annually to celebrate Native American culture and to emphasize the presence of the Native community on and around UNC.
The Powwow is a pan-tribal gathering for Native American people to celebrate their heritage and progression in society. The event brings people together from a range of communities and ethnicities for fellowship. The event also welcomes non-Native people to come learn about the rich history and long-established cultures of Native Americans.
Elena Jacobs-Polanco, one of the planners of the Powwow, said CIC prides itself on putting on a very authentic, truly indigenous event for the community. To celebrate Native heritage, the event will feature vendors serving traditional Native foods, dancing — with close to 80 dancers performing 10 different tribal dances — drum groups and a variety of artwork for purchase.
“We hope to be able to offer spectators and the campus community a really great opportunity to see an overwhelming amount of culture that they might not be exposed to otherwise,” Jacobs-Polanco said.
Though the Powwow is an event to promote excitement and camaraderie, it also has a significant message through this year’s theme. Jacobs-Polanco and Makayla Richardson — CIC member and Powwow planner — said the theme of this year is “Remembering Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.”
Richardson and Jacobs-Polanco said the theme is important to not only the entire Native community, but very near to the hearts of CIC members because of the murder of UNC student and Haliwa-Saponi tribe member Faith Hedgepeth over six years ago.
President of CIC Gabrielle James said Native American women are more likely to go missing, be killed than non-Native Americans, and the Powwow is using its platform to draw attention to this fact. She said tribes across North and South America have started movements to raise awareness for this cause.
“We hope, through the Powwow, we can raise some awareness within our campus community as well as the greater Orange County community of ours,” James said.
The CIC members said the Powwow is encouraging those in attendance to wear red to honor those missing or murdered Indigenous women, and during the event, there will be a dance special to remember those victims.
