At a glance
The 53rd Annual Spring Powwow is scheduled to occur on April 13th and 14th, 2024 at the Hec Edmundson Pavillion. A powwow is a… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2023-2024
- Large
- Awarded
- $13,150
- Funding partners
-
- Student Activities Fee (SAF)
The 53rd Annual Spring Powwow is scheduled to occur on April 13th and 14th, 2024 at the Hec Edmundson Pavillion. A powwow is a gathering of Native American, Alaskan Native, and First Nations peoples. Powwow consists of cultural Native American practices such as dancing and singing. People from all tribes and nations are welcome to partake in these cultural practices, even non-natives are welcome to join and watch the dancers. Powwows are considered celebrations of culture for Native people. During the Powwow, there will be a variety of dance contests and specials that showcase different dance styles and themes, for example, this year we are hosting an MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) special.
The winners of each contest receive a cash prize. Drumming and singing during the contests is a shared duty between drum groups, who will be paid an honorarium for their participation. The event is directed by the MC, assisted by Head Man and Head Woman who organize the schedule. All three are also paid an honorarium. The 2024 Powwow is expected to cost about $90,000 in total. First Nations fundraisers throughout the year to mitigate this cost, a task we consider worthwhile if it means that we get one large-scale event focused solely on Native American culture and pride. We see an average of 5,000 people at the powwow every year; families, spectators, vendors, and volunteers. It is an essential recruitment and retention tool for American Indian students.
The 53rd Annual Spring Powwow is scheduled to occur on April 13th and 14th, 2024 at the Hec Edmundson Pavillion. A powwow is a gathering of Native American, Alaskan Native, and First Nations peoples. Powwow consists of cultural Native American practices such as dancing and singing. People from all tribes and nations are welcome to partake in these cultural practices, even non-natives are welcome to join and watch the dancers. Powwows are considered celebrations of culture for Native people. During the Powwow, there will be a variety of dance contests and specials that showcase different dance styles and themes, for example, this year we are hosting an MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) special.
The winners of each contest receive a cash prize. Drumming and singing during the contests is a shared duty between drum groups, who will be paid an honorarium for their participation. The event is directed by the MC, assisted by Head Man and Head Woman who organize the schedule. All three are also paid an honorarium. The 2024 Powwow is expected to cost about $90,000 in total. First Nations fundraisers throughout the year to mitigate this cost, a task we consider worthwhile if it means that we get one large-scale event focused solely on Native American culture and pride. We see an average of 5,000 people at the powwow every year; families, spectators, vendors, and volunteers. It is an essential recruitment and retention tool for American Indian students. We also apply for other grants mainly through UW and Washington Tribes.
First Nations
Project lead
- fnuw@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student Registered Student Organization (RSO)
Winona George
Team member
- winong@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Who FN is and why we are asking for funding
- Sustainable Impact
- Student Leadership
- Education and Outreach
- Timeline
- Basic Budget
First Nations is a Registered Student Organization that aims to promote Indigenous culture through events such as Taking Back the Dinner and the annual UW Spring Powwow. First Nations also advocates for Native students’ interests, needs, and welfare, supplements and complements the formal education of Native students at UW, expresses our collective Native student opinion and interests to the University and community at large on issues affecting Native student life and culture, and implements the American Indian Retention and Recruitment (A.I.R.R.) Program. We are requesting financial support for the 53rd Spring Powwow occurring this year.
A powwow is a gathering of Native American, Alaskan Native, and First Nations peoples. Powwow consists of cultural Native American practices such as dancing and singing. People from all tribes and nations are welcome to partake in these cultural practices, and non-natives are welcome to join and watch the performances. Powwows are considered celebrations of culture for Native people. Historically, First Nations hosts our Spring Powwow at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion. It is a tradition we value as our families and communities local to Seattle and Washington had the privilege to attend previous powwows in Hec Edmundson and we desire to celebrate our culture in the same manner. In keeping with the Native American powwow circuit, First Nations hosts our Spring Powwow during the second weekend of April. It is attended by UW students, both Native and non-Native, and Indigenous communities within and outside of Washington State, resulting in over 4,000 attendees. First Nations also invites local organizations led by and committed to Native communities, such as the Urban Indian Health Institute and Urban Native Education Alliance, to share their resources and network within our community. The Spring Powwow is fully organized and supported by UW students and volunteers. This allows our members to develop their event planning, coordination, and communication skills.
We are requesting funding to support our remaining event costs, which include but are not limited to Culinary equipment rentals to prepare cultural concessions ($1,500); transportation expenses ($200); office and communication expenses ($300); materials to prepare our traditional Elder’s Dinner ($6000); and honoraria for drummers, singers, and other performers who are a major factor in the Powwow’s success ($6000). Based on the the 52nd Spring Powwow’s actual budget, and our revised budget to reflect First Nations’ appreciation of performers who attended the 52nd Spring Powwow at rates lower than their value to help the event return successfully from pandemic hardships, we estimate our remaining costs at about $14,000. Beginning in Winter quarter, First Nations’ Powwow Committee will meet weekly to execute the planning and coordination of the event. This allows us four months to prepare for the event, held during the second weekend of April. We have attached a preliminary budget of the aforementioned expenses and will have a more detailed full budget after we begin our planning meetings this quarter.
Request amount and budget
How the project will react to funding reductions
Full funding - $34,830 left 10% - $36,230 20% - $37,630 50% - $41,830
Plans for financial longevity
The beginning stages of Powwow planning begin in the Fall quarter when officers begin coming into their roles and start organizing our plans for the rest of the year. The Fundraising Chair and the Powwow Chair begin organizing the grants that we hope to apply for. Winter quarter is when planning starts to ramp up with weekly meetings happening to plan the Powwow. This year's meetings are every Friday from 2 pm to 3 pm. Subcommittees also meet to work on their respective tasks. There are weekly fundraising and art committee meetings. This year we are involving all of First Nations members to help prepare for Powwow, even if they are not in an officer's position. So far, we have invited younger students to be involved in Powwow Committee meetings and are trying to involve everyone in fundraising efforts. We are planning Redbull fundraisers, and frybread workshops/sales and are currently making cups with students' artwork to sell. We have worked with the ECC and Christina Coop for well over a decade on powwow advising, planning, and fundraising. They were major contributors in helping powwow return last year after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19. Many students did not know what powwow looked like or entailed, so these advisors guided the RSO through the process.
First Nations funds this event through many channels. We receive major support through OMA&D and the ECC to afford the facility rental of Hec Edmundson Pavilion. This expense is by far our largest, OMA&D commits $30,000 alone to help the Spring Powwow take place. This year, we are also receiving $20,000 from the Intellectual House to help us rent the carpet that is necessary for the event. Aside from this major source of funding, First Nations has a Fundraising Chair dedicated to grant writing throughout the year in preparation for the event. This year, we are in the process of applying for grant and donation funding from several Tribes including the Tulalip, Cowlitz, and Squaxin Island Tribe so far.
Problem statement
According to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute, Native Americans make up only 1% of the undergraduate and graduate populations in the U.S. Coupled with the very low enrollment, only about 17% of Native students continue to higher education as compared to the rest of the population where about 60% continue after high school. Many Native people, especially those represented by First Nations, attend higher education so that they may return to their communities and advocate for their people. The First Nations RSO was formed in 1989 to promote American Indian and Alaskan Native culture through events such as the annual UW Spring Powwow; to advocate for Native students’ interests, needs, and welfare; to supplement and complement the formal education of Native students at UW; to implement the American Indian Retention and Recruitment (A.I.R.R.) Program; and to provide a physical and sound environment in which to achieve the above objectives. Our intent with the Spring Powwow is to encourage Native youth to pursue a post-secondary education by creating a space on campus that is accessible to our Indigenous communities for cultural celebration. When Native youth visit and see themselves represented by Native students proudly sharing their identity and culture on campus, they begin to realize they too are capable of pursuing higher education, and their presence is celebrated. The Powwow is also a great opportunity for the UW community and general public to learn about Indigenous cultures and traditions. We hope students, faculty, and members of surrounding communities will accept our warm invitation to celebrate a wholesome, educational experience.
Measure the impacts
We measure the success of the Powwow through the number of attendees, number of volunteers, number of vendors, amount raised from vendor fees, concession sales, and qualitative feedback from performers, volunteers, vendors, and attendees. Keeping track of the number of volunteers and vendors is simple as we can tally volunteer sign-ups and vendor RSVPs. We will be able to measure the financial success of the event through the sum of concession sales less supplies expense, as well as the total vendor fees collected. However, we have not historically measured the overall attendance of the Powwow simply because the event is large, free to the public, and occurs over multiple days. Requiring attendees to RSVP or purchase a ticket is not in First Nations' interest as we do not want to deter anyone from attending. This year, we are in the process of designing a method to measure attendance and will implement it at Powwow. After the event, we will evaluate whether this system is accurate, feasible, and reliable.
Education and outreach goals
Our Powwow is promoted through multiple avenues, largely propelled by the Native community. We begin with updating our website, which is currently counting down the days to Powwow, and then post our official event flyer on all First Nations social media accounts. Because First Nations is lucky to have a strong community, our links and flyers are shared by many other UW RSOs, departments, and individuals in and outside of the UW community. First Nations' Powwow has a reputation among Indigenous communities in Washington and the surrounding states, so Native organizations such as Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center promote our event through their channels without compensation. Our concentrated promoting efforts go towards designing the Powwow flyer and distributing it around strategic spots on campus. We typically print 300 flyers for this campaign. First Nations is also interested in finding new methods of advertising on campus, such as virtual advertisements on various monitors throughout the Seattle campus.
Student involvement
The Powwow is organized and planned by student members of First Nations. First Nations is advised by Christina Coop, our SAO advisor and staff at the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center. Beginning in Winter Quarter, members of our Powwow committee which includes undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and others who might have some insight into how we can best approach planning and executing the event.
The Powwow Chair is the head of our Powwow Committee and is responsible for most of the major decisions when it comes to planning. The fundraising, outreach, and Coastal Chairs also work closely on this committee to put together the Powwow. Due to the size of the event other officers and members also take part in the planning of the Powwow.
Volunteering is our main avenue of student involvement. The event is one of the largest on campus and draws in about 5,000 people we require most of our help from volunteers. We require volunteers for many roles, including vendor loading/unloading; concessions; cooking; set-up; mic-running; and more. For the duration of the weekend, roughly 50-100 volunteers are necessary since the event runs from 11 am - 7 pm and volunteers are needed for set-up and cooking beginning at 9 am each day. First Nations usually fulfills this demand for volunteers through First Nations members, students taking AIS 379 (Powwow: Tradition and Innovation), and students involved with the Multicultural Greek Council.