Gathering of Nations Pow Wow

Gathering of Nations Pow Wow brings a huge intertribal gathering to Albuquerque for two packed days at Expo New Mexico, with competitive dancing, drum groups, the Miss Indian World pageant, trading booths, food stands, and contemporary Indigenous music sharing the same fairgrounds. The feel is not a single-stage event but a full day of moving between the powwow arena, the Indian Traders Market, and Stage 49, with families, dancers in regalia, singers, artists, and visitors all folding into the same space.

This weekend stands out because it works as a large intertribal gathering with several centers of gravity at once: the powwow arena for Grand Entry, dance competitions, and drum group competitions; the Indian Traders Market for direct contact with artists and vendors; Stage 49 for contemporary Indigenous music; and the Miss Indian World pageant programming for a different kind of focus altogether. The result is not a watch-from-your-seat event but a lived fairgrounds rhythm where families, dancers in regalia, singers, artists, and visitors keep crossing paths, and where the movement between spaces is part of the character of the gathering.

Food at Gathering of Nations is part of the day’s rhythm at Expo New Mexico: people step out from the powwow arena or the Indian Traders Market for filling fairground staples with Native and New Mexican flavor, then carry drinks back into the sun between competition sessions. Must Try:

• Indian taco
• fry bread
• green chile stew
• roasted corn
• lemonade