Morongo hosts annual Powwow event celebrating Native American traditions
Morongo is hosting their 28th annual Morongo Thunder & Lightning Powwow this weekend. An estimated 25,000 people are at Morongo’s three day event celebrating Native American culture and traditions. The event features over 900 competitive dancers, 20 drum groups, and several vendors selling authentic native arts and crafts including jewelry, beadwork, pottery, clothing and basketry.
Lakota Willis, a young vendor, says she and her family come to Powwow every year. She says it’s a fun way to learn about other tribes and to sell her own family’s designs. “Well my grandmother…her mother taught her, and she just passed it down to all of us. And so now we know how to sew and beadwork,” she said.
Throughout the weekend, dancers wear traditional, intricate, handcrafted outfits of leather, beadwork and brightly-colored feathers. There are several dance competitions that display the diversity of Native American dance styles.
Tribes have traveled from all over the country to come partake in the cultural event — some traveled from Arizona, Utah, New York and even Canada.
“It’s very important. It’s traditional for us a lot of our tribes we used to do trade with other tribes neighboring tribes. In doing that you shared a little bit about yourself, we used to go out between tribes and share songs, and so this lets us do it on a wider scale,” said Maria Lorenzo, a Morongo Powwow committee member.
Organizers say it provides an opportunity to celebrate their heritage while passing along traditions to future generations. Powwow is free and open to the public. The event goes until midnight on Saturday and from 10 am until 6pm on Sunday. For a full overview of the schedule, click here.
KESQ & CBS Local 2’s Madison Weil gives us a look inside the event. Watch the full report at 10:00 p.m. on News Channel 3 and 11 p.m. on CBS Local 2.
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