Every Labor Day weekend, the University of the Pacific partners up with the Stockton Powwow Committee to host a Native American cultural gathering at the Wendell Phillips Center Lawn. This year it was held on August 30th and 31st with both days full of traditional dances and songs as well as vendor booths selling jewelry, clothing, and food.

The event is a way for people from all over the Central Valley and Bay Area to share their culture as tribes like the Luiseno, Cahuilla, Yaqui, Sioux, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, Me-Wuk, Yokuts, and many more represent through vendors, dancers, and visitors. 

It’s a place where the community can honor and celebrate their culture with the support of the Stockton people.

From the early morning on Saturday, vendors and participants set up and dressed as attendees walked around the different booths ranging from crafts to clothes and jewelry and food. It’s a wonder how an event like this gets organized, as Destiny Rivas, the current chair of the Stockton Powwow Committee, described the planning as “an undertaking.”

Rivas explained the process as needing months of preparation. “We have plenty of meetings, organizing the location, permits needed, selecting head staff, arena director, MC and vendors. We have to make flyers, plan schedules, and take in requests.”

And while this was a good experience for non-indigenous people, the event was deeply personal to members of the Native American community.

“It is a ceremonial blessed place as much as it is a lot of fun.”

Delyla Martinez, a dancer representing the Lakota and Yaqui tribes in Stockton, has been participating in the event since she was born, with her great grandparents being a part of the ones to help start it. 

“I love being with the community! It is such a powerful place and is one of my favorite powwows to go to,” said Martinez. The event is a way for her to be able to connect with her culture. 

Isaac Arce-Gomez, a member of Stagg Online, was able to see the dances and shared what he felt. “I thought their dancing was very spiritual and I felt uplifted while watching it.”

For Rita Naranjo, the owner of Of Many, a jewelry and adornment business, apart from her professional career, the event was also about representation. 

According to her, the event shined a light on Native resilience and creativity. “We still have viable skills and we have a micro economy that thrives on who we are and where we come from.” Naranjo said. “It means a lot to me to be able to walk this parallel path.”

To Yei Tochtli Mitalapilli, a co-founder of Aztec cultural clothing business Tochtliwear, his participation is a means to come “together as a community and share our culture through having a cultural exchange with all the students and the community here at Stockton.”

“We’re keeping our tradition alive, our culture alive,” said Mitalapilli, “and people are able to come and enjoy it too.”