PROUD TRADITION

Taos Pueblo Pow Wow celebrates Native American dancing, drumming

Taos Pueblo has a lot to be proud of after 32 years of hosting one of the largest powwows in New Mexico. “We’re one of the longestrunning pow wows in the state of New Mexico, run by Native people,” said Debbie Lujan, co-coordinator of the Taos Pueblo Pow Wow. “It’s run entirely by volunteers, and we’re very proud of that fact. … But that says something when you’ve been in existence for that long. That’s a long time.”

The event scenery is like no other, according to Lujan.

“I think it’s very surprising to see the scenery and everything that comes together,” Lujan said. “The arbor that we have is made up of wood, and we grow brush up on top, so there’s no metal involved. So it’s very oldfashioned. We have our arena within that. … The backdrop of that is the pastureland that is situated along pueblo tribal land and then the mountain in the background, so it’s pretty aweinspiring.”

Lujan said although the powwow is large, it’s still an intimate and family-friendly celebration.

The event features a variety of dance competitions with cash prices totaling more than $40,000.

“They are separated by genders, so there’s men’s and women’s categories, so within those categories there’s specified dances,” Lujan said. “And so we have the women’s. We have jingle dress, fancy shawl, the buckskin like a northern style and then in the men’s is the fancy dance, there’s a chicken dance, there’s a grass dance, so they’re very unique in themselves.”

The thing that draws that all together are the four grand entries, according to Lujan. There are four grand entries at 7 p.m. today, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

The drum competition also is a popular event.

“We have about 15-20 drum groups, and that is also a competition in and of itself,” Lujan said. “It’s a drum competition with northern-style singing, southernstyle singing, so there’s money allotted for that, too.”