I went to a powwow on Friday with Gabby Writes and Xiaolin Xu and I had so much fun.
the beauty pageant and fried bread
Firstly, we went for a Native American beauty pageant, and that was fun. Then we ate some fried bread — fried bread tacos and a fried bread burger, because I really like burgers.
The fry bread was made by the Navajo tribe. I don’t even know how to fully describe it. I could smell the fried onions and I really liked that smell. But it was bread that had been fried — which, I mean, that’s the name. And it was really good. I really enjoyed it.
This was the 36th Annual ASU Powwow — a gathering that brought together dancers and singers from tribes across the US and Canada, including the Apache, Hopi, and Navajo. Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, and this event is one of the ways that legacy stays alive.
dance performances
Then we went to watch the performances. Various dances, different sounds, different music — they had their own drums and everything.
There was the Men’s Fancy Dance — the most visually explosive thing I’ve ever seen. Big colorful feather bustles on their backs, fast and furious movement, like the earth was speaking through their feet.
There was the Women’s Fancy Shawl Dance. Women in bright, fringed shawls spinning and twirling, barely touching the ground. They say this dance represents a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. Watching them, I believed it.
And there was the Jingle Dress Dance. Dresses covered in tiny metal cones that make a sound when the dancer moves. It’s actually a medicine dance — it’s said there is good medicine when a jingle dancer is present.
It was so spiritual. It just felt so healing and like, in the moment.
We even took a photo with one of the Men’s Fancy dancers — feather headdress, beaded red and blue regalia, the whole thing. He was kind enough to stop for us.
And then there were fireworks in the sky. Lovely to watch.
spirituality, colors, and their meaning
During the performances, my friend Gabby Writes and I were so in our feelings that we started talking about colors.
She told me she was drawn to purple because one of the dancers was wearing a white dress with purple designs. She showed me the meaning of purple: royalty, spirituality, all of that. She wrote more about it:
I used to never really like the color purple. My favorite was always green since I was a little girl, and til this day it still is.
But somehow around 2024, I was starting to have this shift of being drawn to the color purple. Especially light purple.
During that time, I was going through back to back therapy from EMDR to a DBT support group after having went thru some hardships at the time, and I was discovering hobbies I would love til this day.
It turns out the color purple means a sign of spiritual depth, wisdom and creativity. And it all makes sense!! I started wearing purple more, giving me comfort, and I love looking at it on things.
You don’t have to have a color you’re drawn to as your favorite color, but it is just a reflection of emotional needs and biological responses to the energy wavelengths it emits.
And I find it fascinating. It’s almost like an aura, you know. Specific hues correlate to personalities and where we are in our energies.
Then she asked me what color I was drawn to.
I still don’t have a favorite color. But I told her I’m drawn to orange.
We googled it and saw that orange is about being vibrant, zest for life.
And I’ve been feeling that — that yearning. That yearning for zest, for being alive, for living every day, for living in the moment.
So it’s interesting how that color resonates with me.
What’s even more interesting is that I wore a hot orange shirt that day. Without thinking about it. Before I even knew what orange meant.
My body dressed for the energy I was trying to call in before my mind caught up.
t-shirt to remember
As usual, I got a t-shirt to remember the day — pink, with a Native American girl on it.
It was definitely a moment to remember.
Witnessing and participating in diverse cultures indicate a growth mindset.
The only thing I remember is the fried bread burger 🥸