Marking its 14th year, the Penn State Powwow returns to Mount Nittany Middle School this weekend with American Indian drum groups and dancers from reservations and communities across North America.
The powwow is set for 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The event is free and open to the public and a free shuttle from the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus to the powwow will run continuously beginning at 11 a.m. both days.
‘Everyone, native or non-native, is welcome,” powwow coordinator John Sanchez (Ndeh Apache), a faculty member in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, said in a release.
A grand entry of dancers is held at noon on both days, and at times during the powwow, non-native attendees are invited into the dance area to take part in an intertribal dance. Other times are set aside to honor veterans, children and elders, both native and non-native.
In addition to drums and dance foods such as American Indian frybread, Indian corn soup and buffalo from the Northern Tribal Nations will be available for purchase. American Indian vendors from across the country will sell native-made items such as beadwork, quillwork, silver, turquoise and wampum.
More than 6,000 visitors attended the powwow in 2017.
