The Cozad Singers of Oklahoma, one of the host drum groups for the 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow, play Friday evening in Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. More than 50 tribes from around the nation are represented at the event, which continues Saturday.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Randy Doyebi, center, is the head gourd dancer at the powwow.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Cozad Singers of Oklahoma, one of the host drum groups for the 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow, play Friday evening in Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. More than 50 tribes from around the nation are represented at the event, which continues Saturday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Randy Doyebi, center, is the head gourd dancer at the powwow. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Louis Hatch of Towac dances during Hozhoni Days Powwow on Friday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow was held at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. More than 50 tribes from around the nation are represented at the event. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Jacob Smith, center, the grandson of Navajo Code Talker Raymond Smith, and his cousin, Brandon Redhouse, sell their goods at the Hozhoni Days Powwow on Friday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Fort Lewis College student Ferrari Arvis, 2016-17 Ms. Hozhoni, will give up the crown when they name her successor Saturday evening at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow was held Friday evening at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow was held Friday evening at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. More than 50 tribes from around the nation are represented at the event. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
All ages get ready for the 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow on Friday evening at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Mathew Sheka Sr., left, and Steven Toya Jr., both of Arizona, save a parking space during the 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow on Friday evening at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Cozad Singers from Oklahoma drum at the Hozhoni Days Powwow at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Cozad Singers from Oklahoma drum at the Hozhoni Days Powwow at Whalen Gymnasium at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The culmination of a month of activities focused on Native American education occurs at the 53rd annual Hozhoni Days Powwow at Fort Lewis College.
The two-day event concludes Saturday in Whalen Gymnasium with gourd dancing, Grand Entry and the crowning of Ms. Hozhoni.
Saturday events
Gourd Dancing begins at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Grand Entry is set for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Ms. Hozhoni will be crowned during the evening powwow.
Admission is $6 for the day, and free for children younger than 6 and adults older than 60.
The event
Hozhoni Days dates to 1966, when the former Shalako Indian Club turned a small event into a larger celebration and renamed it Hozhoni Days by then-freshman Clyde Benally, according the Fort Lewis College website. Benally, a 1968 FLC graduate, is known as the “Father of Hozhoni Days.”
The event’s Navajo name means “days of beauty.” It is FLC’s longest-standing student-led tradition, the website says, and features Native dancers, singers and performers from around the nation.
Ms. Hozhoni Pageant
Those vying for the crown are judged on public speaking, traditional food presentations and traditional and modern talent performances. The winner is an ambassador for the year for Wanbli Ota and the Fort Lewis College Native American community.
Wanbli Ota
The Shalako Indian Club’s name changed in 1970s to Wambidiota Club and in 1991 became Wanbli Ota – meaning “many eagles” in the Lakota language, according to the FLC website.
The group also puts on such other events as public presentations, speakers and artists, workshops and cultural performances.
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