Stanford University Powwow: A Half-Century of Indigenous Celebration and Solidarity
For nearly 50 years, the annual Stanford Powwow has been a vibrant display of Native American culture, drawing tens of thousands of people from across the continent to the university. People of all tribal backgrounds, as well as curious and admiring onlookers, come to dance, pray, eat, and reconnect with friends. This student-run event has become the university's largest annual multicultural event and an ideal way to celebrate Mother's Day weekend. This May, we welcome the Stanford Powwow back to campus after two years of virtual gatherings.
A Tradition Rooted in Activism and Community
The origins of the Stanford Powwow are intertwined with Native American activism on campus. In November 1970, a group of Natives came together to fight the issue of Stanford’s mascot - the “Indian”. Since 1930, the Stanford athletic teams had a big-nosed caricature of an “Indian” to serve as their mascot. As part of their efforts to educate others about the true Native image, this small group of Natives put on the first Annual Stanford Pow Wow. The event in the 1970’s was not as big as the Pow Wow everyone has come to know and love today.
In 1970, the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO) was founded to increase educational opportunities for Native American students at Stanford. The organization hit the ground running, launching Powwow in 1971, successfully advocating for the discontinuation of Stanford’s Indian mascot in 1972 and working to increase Indigenous enrollment through the early 1970s. The first Powwow, held on May 1, 1971, aimed to highlight Native culture to the local community and raise money for student financial aid. Dean Chavers, MA ’73, MA ’75, PhD ’76, a Lumbee Indian who had been part of the Native occupation of Alcatraz the year before, remembers another motivation as well: to attract Native students to Stanford and to make life better for the few already there. “It was most important for the freshmen,” he says. “They were pretty homesick.”
A Celebration of Native Culture and Identity
Fifty years later, Powwow is many things to many people. It’s a highlight for the Bay Area’s large Indigenous population, a magnet for tribal performers and vendors from across North America, a pan-Indian celebration of unity, a spiritual affirmation. For many, it also has larger meaning as a proclamation of the vibrancy of Native life on a campus that long seemed bereft of such, despite its roots on the ancestral lands of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. As recently as 1969, there were just four Native undergrads in the Stanford student body. (Today, there are around 300.)
Eucalyptus Grove comes alive with the beat of the drums, sending chills of power trickling down your spine. All around you are people, over 30,000 weaving in and out of over 100 booths. Despite the tickle of your nose from the dust kicked up by the passionate dancers in the arena, you are greeted by the smell of foods representative of different tribes. The crowd is colorful in dress, face and purpose; the songs represent and evoke different emotions. Dancing in one’s tribal regalia is often a prayerful process full of respect for the environment and Native lifeways.
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For three-time co-chair Jade Okute Win Goodwill, ’21, Powwow has been a place to reunite with loved ones. Seen here at the most recent in-person Powwow, in 2019, are her father, Darrell Goodwill (Dakota/Lakota), mother Tamsen Holm, ’87 (Navajo), sister Dylan Goodwill and Jade (both Navajo/Hunkpapa Lakota/Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota), with aunt Evelyn Goodstriker (Dakota/Lakota) and cousin Juanita Growing Thunder (Assiniboine Sioux).
The Impact of Powwow on Stanford's Native Community
Powwow plays a vital role in supporting Native students at Stanford. January Tobacco-a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe who grew up on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, one of the poorest regions in the nation-chose Stanford because of its support for Native students. She remembers getting calls from the NACC, and from students, reassuring her Stanford would be a good place for her. “No other university was doing that,” she says.
But as a self-described mama’s girl, Tobacco, ’17, who co-chaired Powwow her junior and senior years, still missed home-and the wealth she saw on and around campus jarred her. “I didn’t even realize that there was that much money in the world.” Her first Stanford Powwow surprised her with the way it transported her back to Pine Ridge. “To get a piece of frybread, to just hear all the Native voices and the Native laughter and to get dust in your hair-it was like having a piece of home on campus.”
Adapting and Enduring: Powwow in the Face of Challenges
In 2020 and 2021, the pandemic forced Stanford Powwow to celebrate its 50th anniversary without the distinctive mix of drum, dance and dust in the eucalyptus grove across from the stadium. But this time, organizers found ways to bring most of Powwow-from dance contests to honor songs to art stands-online. “All you need is some dirt, frybread and the smell of the eucalyptus trees, and you will have the Stanford Powwow in your home,” says senior Jade Okute Win Goodwill, in her third year as co-chair. “We wanted to keep the people dancing and to keep this event going no matter what.”
Even next year, the pandemic could continue to present challenges for Powwow. There will be only one undergrad class on campus that has put on the event live. Goodwill and other leaders are busy creating guides to bridge the knowledge gap.
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Strengthening Ties with Native Communities
Stanford continues to work to strengthen the relationship between the university and Native American members of our community, as well as neighboring tribes. In this work, we have found key partners in the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, on whose ancestral territory the university is located. Working with tribal leadership, the university began the process of repatriating Ohlone remains in the 1980s. Today, Stanford researchers work with the tribe on research projects that focus on tribal priorities, including identifying Muwekma Ohlone sites and uncovering more about the group’s history in the region.
Native American community members have advocated for important developments on our campus too. In 2019, the university renamed some but not all of the campus landmarks previously named for Junípero Serra, founder of the California mission system. The renaming was a collaborative process, involving our Native American community on campus, leaders of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and other affected groups. At the community’s suggestion, one building was renamed for Carolyn (Lewis) Attneave, MA ’47, PhD ’52, a Stanford alumna of Lenni Lenape descent who established the field of Native American mental health. In collaboration with the Muwekma Ohlone, the university also finalized its land acknowledgement in October 2021. The statement honors the significance of the land to the Muwekma Ohlone people and recognizes the university’s responsibility of stewardship.
Looking to the Future
As Stanford Powwow looks to the future, it remains a vital force for Native American culture, community, and advocacy. Constance Owl, ’18, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and another former Powwow co-chair, doesn’t seem fazed. Powwow’s persistence for 50 years is testament to a deep community commitment to making things better for those who come after. “I don’t know if campus is going to be able to handle the turnout that we’re going to have for the next in-person Powwow,” she says. “It’s going to be huge.”
Now, three alumni are telling the 50-year story of SAIO in new ways. Matt Yellowtail, ’18, and Constance Owl, ’18, current resident fellows of Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, are working on a story map and oral history project with interviews, archives and stories told by Native American students and alumni. This complements a remarkable oral history series, 50 for 50, created by previous resident fellow Shoney Hixson Blake, ’06, and featuring interviews with Indigenous alumni each week for the 50 weeks that led up to the 50th Powwow in May 2021. It is through sharing stories and traditions, collaborating with local tribes, and making ongoing efforts to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion on campus that we can continue to deepen Stanford’s relationship with Native people, as well as improve our understanding of the full history of Stanford.
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