The Harvard Powwow is really special for Indigenous identifying students, faculty, and community members at Harvard...
The 26th Annual Harvard Powwow took place on September 28th, 2024. Inspired by Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, this year the theme was “In My Powwow Era”, celebrating years past, present and future of Harvard Powwows and Native American and Indigenous identifying students, staff, and community members at Harvard.
After returning last year for the first time from a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's powwow was bigger and better than the last. There was a much larger space used for the dancing arena, where powwow attendees gather to watch traditional dancers perform in their regalia. A larger dancing arena also meant more people coming to the powwow and more vendors coming to sell their products, from art pieces to traditional clothing! I was excited to be a volunteer and help set-up the powwow this year! I arrived at the McCurdy Outdoor Field and Track, the powwow grounds for the day, at 8 am along with several other student and community member volunteers. The Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) staff organized us all into different teams and we got started. The set-up process included unfolding and setting up all of the chairs underneath and around the large tent we would be using for the dancing arena, setting up tables for the non-profit organizations and HUNAP booth, and measuring and marking spots for all of the vendors. After a few hours of setting up, the vendors began to arrive and volunteers showed them to their spaces and helped them unload.
After the vendors were set-up, the powwow was complete and began to feel very real to me. Dancers walking around in their traditional regalia, young children running around and playing, people gathered around the dancing arena, shopping at the vendors, and eating an Indian taco, it felt like home. I spent this past summer in Boston and missed my own tribes summer powwow that I have been attending for as long as I can remember and began to feel disconnected from my culture, but the Harvard powwow, HUNAP staff, and the Indigenous community at the powwow helped me to feel connected again. The Harvard Powwow is really special for Indigenous identifying students, faculty, and community members at Harvard because it provides a strong sense of community, pride for our culture, and a sense of belonging and acceptance. I am proud to be Indigenous, today and everyday and I am grateful to have an Indigenous community here and for the Harvard Powwow!
