Nizhoni Days Powwow celebrates 64th year of community-making
May 1, 2023 - Mackenzie Schwartz - The Daily Lobo
The Kiva Club hosted the Nizhoni Days Powwow on Sunday, April 30. It is the oldest powwow in New Mexico, according to Demetrius Johnson (Diné) a former Kiva Club president from 2015 to 2017.
“It does heal the community, and I think during COVID this Powwow was really missed,” Johnson said. “But the other purpose of this Powwow is to show that there is a powwow out there that is for the community, and it is free, and it is by Native people, for Native people.”
The entirety of the event is free, including a community dinner. It was started 64 years ago when the Kiva Club wanted to bring a powwow back to New Mexico.
“The Kiva Club Powwow is the oldest powwow in New Mexico, it was started by Kiva Club and pretty much the whole community wanted to bring powwow down here to the Southwest, specifically New Mexico,” Johnson said.
Johnson was attending the Powwow with the Red Nation, a grassroots organization that is dedicated to Native liberation.
“A Native-led organization dedicated to the liberation of Native people, talking about settler colonialism, about capitalism, how it affects our people, but also how we move forward,” Johnson said.
Mackenzie Schwartz is the photo editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at photoeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mackenzid5
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