The 53rd annual Cal State Long Beach Pow Wow brought thousands together to celebrate Indigenous cultures and communities through art, music and dance last weekend. The CSULB Pow Wow is the largest spring event of its kind in Southern California.
The event’s master of ceremonies, Arlie Neskahi of the Diné Nation, described the pow wow as a diplomatic event, a gathering of people who want to share their cultures and histories.
“We stand with our traditions,” Neskahi said to the audience as dancers in traditional regalia paraded into the arena for their grand entry. “As we stand, we stand with one another.”
Flags representing different tribal nations formed a circle on the intramural soccer field, creating a space for inter-tribal dances and exhibitions. People of all ages danced in the arena as songs from northern and southern regions carried across the field. The songs don’t necessarily have words, but rather stem from sounds found in nature and everyday life, Neskahi said.
While the dancers proudly shared their cultures with their movements and regalia, food and art vendors surrounding the arena quietly celebrated their heritage in a different way.
Three vendors — Wildhorse Native Foods, Lucy Hale’s Indian Tacos & Frybread, and Wailaki’s Indian Tacos — shared their culture specifically through frybread.
Frybread is a round of dough fried in oil or lard until crispy and golden. It can be made into a savory meal or a sweet dessert, depending on what toppings are put on it.
Frybread originated in the Navajo Nation as an act of survival. During the Long Walk — a period in the 1860s when the U.S. government forced the Navajo out of their homelands and marched them hundreds of miles — flour and salt were rationed out, and the Navajo had to figure out what to do with it. Using these foreign ingredients, they created frybread.
For Sandra Hale, the owner of Lucy Hale’s Indian Tacos & Frybread, frybread represents family. A member of the Navajo Nation, she grew up going to pow wows and watching her mom make it.
“My mom said, anytime that you start kneading the dough to always have good thoughts that go into the bread,” Hale said.
Hale’s mom opened her food booth in the ’80s and traveled to different pow wows to sell her frybread. When her mom died in 2016, Hale took over the business. Now, with the help of her siblings and aunts, she is continuing her mom’s legacy and feeding thousands.
“It just makes me feel good that [people] enjoy eating our frybread,” Hale said.
For many in the region, pow wows are really the only place Native American foods like frybread can be found.
Reichen Brown, a student at CSULB, attended the pow wow for the first time this weekend. Before the event, he had never come across any Native American foods and wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I didn’t know what any Native American food was, and that was a big reason I came here. I want to get to know the rest of the culture too, but that was a big thing that drove me to come find out,” Brown said.
Lonny Moreno, who attended the pow wow on Sunday with his family, had frybread for the first time as well. Moreno’s wife is a member of the Choctaw Nation, so he felt it was important for their family to go to the pow wow to get exposure to their culture.
“Food is part of culture, so if you want to experience the culture, one of the best things you can do is experience their food, right?” Moreno said.
Between the food, crafts, and dances, events like the CSULB Pow Wow “keep the culture alive,” Moreno said. “It’s important to keep the culture alive.”