‘Stewart Father’s Day Powwow’ honors tradition
Hundreds of American Indian dancers, drummers, artists, craftsmen, and cultural enthusiasts will converge on Carson City the weekend of June 14-16 for the annual Stewart Indian School Father’s Day Powwow.
Festivities at the former Stewart Indian School, located at 5500 Snyder Ave., Carson City, include daily grand entries, crafts and food vendors, and a fun run. The event is open to the public and admission is free.
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 Stewart Indian School reunion on Saturday that is open to all past students and faculty of the school that was in operation from 1890 to 1980.
The three-day powwow opens 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.
The third 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 more information about the fun run call Filomena Smokey at 775-883-7794.
For general information about the Powwow, contact Diane Buckley at (775) 687-7605 or dibuckley@nic.nv.gov.
