May 29, 2024 • 9 mins
IT'S TIME FOR A POW WOW! It is the 23rd Annual Indian Market and Intertribal Powwow at The Fort on June 1st and 2nd! This event is SUPER cool and a great way to learn about the culture of the Native American tribes who live in and around Colorado. There are beautiful artworks, jewelry, and more to shop plus an entire day of Indian dancing and elaborate costumes. It is a great way to spend the day learning and watching and having fun. I've got the owner of The Fort and the driving force behind the Tesoro Cultural Center Holley Kinney on the show today at 1:30 to talk about it. Buy your VERY affordable tickets here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
First of all, let me justhave this little moment. This is an
unpaid endorsement for the Fort. TheFort is where we always take people from
out of town because it is Coloradocentric food that is just outstanding. It
is an incredible atmosphere, the serviceis always perfect, and the proprietress behind
the Fort is not just the proprietressof the Fort, but also the driving
(00:22):
force behind the Tasorro Cultural Center,which is dedicated to amplifying Native American culture.
I think that's the best way toput it. Holly. Yeah,
Well, we're a replica of Ben'sSport, and they had many cultures that
traded at Ben's Sport, and sothere was a Spanish culture, a lot
of Indian tribes, the Southern Cheyenne, the Rapaho, the Ricera, the
(00:43):
Pawnee, the Kiowa, and sowe celebrate all those cultures and black culture.
There are a lot of black tradersand trappers and so anyway, that's
what the Tosorrow Cultural Center is.It's a nonprofit five O and C three
and we call it the heart andsoul of the Fort because it's if I
remember this correctly, your father startedthe fort to support essentially the entire cultural
(01:10):
aspect of what's going on. Yes, originally it was to be a living
history museum, but then to createthe adobe bricks and the construction costs got
so high that they decided to turnit into a restaurant and serving foods of
what they ate at Ben's Fort,Well, they ate buffalo el quell,
American Indian foods, So that becamethe basis of our cuisine. And it's
(01:33):
all of those but elevated, youknow, and the food, Like right
now, I thought about the buffalobone marrow and now my mouth is watering
because it's so good. It's soso good. But we're not talking about
food because I'm gonna get hungry.Let's talk about the twenty third Annual Indian
Market and Intertribal Powwow that is happeningthis weekend at the Fort. Tell people
(01:55):
what this is, Well, it'sa gathering of sixty different Indian nations and
it's like a total immersion of Indianculture. You're at all interested in Indian
jewelry with turquoise and silver, orsculpture or painting, or dance and song
and the fascination and the tribal costit tribal while they're actually called regalia because
(02:19):
I feel that's what they would normallyreally wear in our normal street clothes.
Is really the costume. Right,Oh wow, So they're called regalia,
but the tribes come out in theirfull regalia and they honor these songs from
and we honor a veteran who's foughtfor freedom every year, an American Indian
veteran. And we have a womanMarine who we're honoring, and her name
(02:44):
is Adriana Almobadar. She's a memberof the Oglala, Lakota and Santee tribe
and she's actually a staff sergeant sergeantin the Marine Forces in Germany and she's
now working in the Thornton Police Department. Oh excellent. Are very happy to
honor a woman Marine as our honoree. And so the public will get to
(03:06):
see this full honoring ceremony with acolor guard, the American Indian Color Guard
that are from Southern Cheyenne Indian Nationin Oklahoma. And we've got drummer groups,
the hosts drums coming from the Dakotas. We think we'll get close to
two hundred dancers and sixty different tribes. This is the coolest event and we've
(03:30):
taken the queue. And if youwant it all, if you have children
who would like to learn more aboutIndian culture, or maybe they don't,
maybe you want them to know moreabout Indian culture, this is a wonderful
way to do it. And youcan sit and talk with the artists that
are there. I bought this incrediblepainting that is on a ledger, and
(03:53):
I learned from this Cheyenne young woman, she was eighteen that back when paper,
right after the Civil War, Indiannations started getting access to paper for
the first time, and they werein the form of old bank ledgers or
maybe they had looted something and theyfinally had paper, so they started doing
art on the back of these ledgers, like a bank ledgure Mine. The
(04:15):
ledger date is nineteen seventeen, butobviously the art on the other side is
brand new. But it was sofascinating just to have that conversation, and
you don't think about things like whendid they get access to paper? That's
never a thing that crossed my mind, right, But that's the thing I
know now because of going to theIndian market and intertribal powow. When you
call it a powwow, what doesthat actually mean? In Indian culture,
(04:39):
a pow wow was really started atthe turn of the century, and it
was a way. It started ina way like a big picnic and inviting
the different tribes together to suddenly theywere able to start dancing their dances because
it was forbidden when they were inthe nineteenth century. The army wouldn't let
them dritt, dance and singing theirown languages. And so it became kind
(05:03):
of when it opened up and theywere allowed to dance, they started the
different competitions in dancing and the differenttribes coming together. So it really was
like a gathering of celebration of theircultures, of the different cultures. How
large is this pow wow compared toother pow wows across the country, because
(05:24):
I know there's a big one innorthern Colorado at some point coming up,
usually right after shortly after this one. How many tribes come to this one
versus others. They're expecting we'll getmaybe sixty tribes, Okay, so yeah,
they are coming. They are comingfrom the Dakotas. And also they
have the host drum is like acelebrity drummer group and have won Emmy Awards
(05:49):
Wow, the Gemmy Awards. Andso they've been chosen by our organizers who
are Southern Cheyenne, George Curtis Leviand Francis Sherwood, who of the Denver
Indian community and he's a ricora anda man Dan Dots in Navajo. They
are coordinating our pow wow and theyselected this host drum from the Dakotas because
(06:13):
of their they're famous. They're likecelebrities, and all the dancers will want
to come and dancing competition. Yeah, they're singing and they're drumming, and
then they're visiting drums that come fromall those different areas across the country.
A lot from New Mexico, manyfrom the Dakotas, some from Texas.
Uh. But everyone's welcome. Butit's like a picnic. You don't quite
(06:35):
know who's going to be there tillthey show up. So the regalia that
you were talking about, and they'revery elaborate. I mean some of these
things, especially like the the dancewith the bells where they has all the
little bells are the little jangling things. Is there a central location, like
do they have a website that theyorder this stuff off over they all handmade.
(06:56):
They're handmade, but oars or asTrading Post has was on Broadway.
There you can buy a lot ofthe items that you can then make them
for your regalia. And there areonline sites that various Native people can go
online. But they're all handmade andsome are very sophisticated. Some take three
(07:21):
four years to do the beadwork fortheir pow wow dresses. But you also
see teenagers incorporating Superman or other kindof fun cartoon characters into their regalia.
And so it's very contemporary, it'scool, and it's who they are,
(07:44):
who they admire. So you cango this weekend Saturday and Sunday. Correct,
yes, yes, Saturday and Sunday. It is fifteen bucks to get
in. What does that money goto be goes directly to pay for the
dancers, contest money well as thecosts of the putting on the whole event,
from all the tents that we haveto rent, the port of potties,
(08:05):
we rent security. This is nota profit making activity, no,
this is this is a labor oflove. I know that. So that's
why the tickets are so reasonable.Its parking kiss and it's very organized parking.
So it's very organized parking. It'sten dollars for kids six and under.
And this is a wonderful, wonderfulthing to take kids to. I
(08:26):
cannot stress that enough. They've gota great way for you to buy some
food, some fork food that isabsolutely delicious. You can see all the
concessions. You can see the danceof live hawks and eagles. Oh,
yes, Nature's Group. They bringlive hawks and eagles and reptiles and so
kids can learn about how important reptilesand hawks and eagles are to native culture.
(08:50):
It's just a great event. AndHolly Kenney, it's a joy seeing
you as always. And if you'venever eaten at the Fort, if you're
a transplant, put it on yourlist to do it, because it is
a wonderful dining experience. Every timeI go, it is an outstanding dining
experience and I just think to myself, I wish I lived closer. But
that's Oh. We have ticket problemthat I have, Holly, is I
(09:13):
don't have any way to fulfill this. Is there any way we could do
a list? Do you have alist? Yeah? Yeah, can we
if you take sanas, if youget the names, then we'll put it
all at the front door. Whydon't we do this right now, A
Rod. The first four people tocall right now people actually get a ticket.
Well, we'll do four people packsof two. Okay, yeah,
(09:35):
So the first four people that textA Rod just switched it up, text
five six, six, nine oh, saying I want to go. We
will then immediately call you back andget you on the list so you can
go with a friend to this eventthis weekend. Holly, thank you so
much for coming in today. Thankyou, Mandy,
First of all, let me justhave this little moment. This is an
unpaid endorsement for the Fort. TheFort is where we always take people from
out of town because it is Coloradocentric food that is just outstanding. It
is an incredible atmosphere, the serviceis always perfect, and the proprietress behind
the Fort is not just the proprietressof the Fort, but also the driving
(00:22):
force behind the Tasorro Cultural Center,which is dedicated to amplifying Native American culture.
I think that's the best way toput it. Holly. Yeah,
Well, we're a replica of Ben'sSport, and they had many cultures that
traded at Ben's Sport, and sothere was a Spanish culture, a lot
of Indian tribes, the Southern Cheyenne, the Rapaho, the Ricera, the
(00:43):
Pawnee, the Kiowa, and sowe celebrate all those cultures and black culture.
There are a lot of black tradersand trappers and so anyway, that's
what the Tosorrow Cultural Center is.It's a nonprofit five O and C three
and we call it the heart andsoul of the Fort because it's if I
remember this correctly, your father startedthe fort to support essentially the entire cultural
(01:10):
aspect of what's going on. Yes, originally it was to be a living
history museum, but then to createthe adobe bricks and the construction costs got
so high that they decided to turnit into a restaurant and serving foods of
what they ate at Ben's Fort,Well, they ate buffalo el quell,
American Indian foods, So that becamethe basis of our cuisine. And it's
(01:33):
all of those but elevated, youknow, and the food, Like right
now, I thought about the buffalobone marrow and now my mouth is watering
because it's so good. It's soso good. But we're not talking about
food because I'm gonna get hungry.Let's talk about the twenty third Annual Indian
Market and Intertribal Powwow that is happeningthis weekend at the Fort. Tell people
(01:55):
what this is, Well, it'sa gathering of sixty different Indian nations and
it's like a total immersion of Indianculture. You're at all interested in Indian
jewelry with turquoise and silver, orsculpture or painting, or dance and song
and the fascination and the tribal costit tribal while they're actually called regalia because
(02:19):
I feel that's what they would normallyreally wear in our normal street clothes.
Is really the costume. Right,Oh wow, So they're called regalia,
but the tribes come out in theirfull regalia and they honor these songs from
and we honor a veteran who's foughtfor freedom every year, an American Indian
veteran. And we have a womanMarine who we're honoring, and her name
(02:44):
is Adriana Almobadar. She's a memberof the Oglala, Lakota and Santee tribe
and she's actually a staff sergeant sergeantin the Marine Forces in Germany and she's
now working in the Thornton Police Department. Oh excellent. Are very happy to
honor a woman Marine as our honoree. And so the public will get to
(03:06):
see this full honoring ceremony with acolor guard, the American Indian Color Guard
that are from Southern Cheyenne Indian Nationin Oklahoma. And we've got drummer groups,
the hosts drums coming from the Dakotas. We think we'll get close to
two hundred dancers and sixty different tribes. This is the coolest event and we've
(03:30):
taken the queue. And if youwant it all, if you have children
who would like to learn more aboutIndian culture, or maybe they don't,
maybe you want them to know moreabout Indian culture, this is a wonderful
way to do it. And youcan sit and talk with the artists that
are there. I bought this incrediblepainting that is on a ledger, and
(03:53):
I learned from this Cheyenne young woman, she was eighteen that back when paper,
right after the Civil War, Indiannations started getting access to paper for
the first time, and they werein the form of old bank ledgers or
maybe they had looted something and theyfinally had paper, so they started doing
art on the back of these ledgers, like a bank ledgure Mine. The
(04:15):
ledger date is nineteen seventeen, butobviously the art on the other side is
brand new. But it was sofascinating just to have that conversation, and
you don't think about things like whendid they get access to paper? That's
never a thing that crossed my mind, right, But that's the thing I
know now because of going to theIndian market and intertribal powow. When you
call it a powwow, what doesthat actually mean? In Indian culture,
(04:39):
a pow wow was really started atthe turn of the century, and it
was a way. It started ina way like a big picnic and inviting
the different tribes together to suddenly theywere able to start dancing their dances because
it was forbidden when they were inthe nineteenth century. The army wouldn't let
them dritt, dance and singing theirown languages. And so it became kind
(05:03):
of when it opened up and theywere allowed to dance, they started the
different competitions in dancing and the differenttribes coming together. So it really was
like a gathering of celebration of theircultures, of the different cultures. How
large is this pow wow compared toother pow wows across the country, because
(05:24):
I know there's a big one innorthern Colorado at some point coming up,
usually right after shortly after this one. How many tribes come to this one
versus others. They're expecting we'll getmaybe sixty tribes, Okay, so yeah,
they are coming. They are comingfrom the Dakotas. And also they
have the host drum is like acelebrity drummer group and have won Emmy Awards
(05:49):
Wow, the Gemmy Awards. Andso they've been chosen by our organizers who
are Southern Cheyenne, George Curtis Leviand Francis Sherwood, who of the Denver
Indian community and he's a ricora anda man Dan Dots in Navajo. They
are coordinating our pow wow and theyselected this host drum from the Dakotas because
(06:13):
of their they're famous. They're likecelebrities, and all the dancers will want
to come and dancing competition. Yeah, they're singing and they're drumming, and
then they're visiting drums that come fromall those different areas across the country.
A lot from New Mexico, manyfrom the Dakotas, some from Texas.
Uh. But everyone's welcome. Butit's like a picnic. You don't quite
(06:35):
know who's going to be there tillthey show up. So the regalia that
you were talking about, and they'revery elaborate. I mean some of these
things, especially like the the dancewith the bells where they has all the
little bells are the little jangling things. Is there a central location, like
do they have a website that theyorder this stuff off over they all handmade.
(06:56):
They're handmade, but oars or asTrading Post has was on Broadway.
There you can buy a lot ofthe items that you can then make them
for your regalia. And there areonline sites that various Native people can go
online. But they're all handmade andsome are very sophisticated. Some take three
(07:21):
four years to do the beadwork fortheir pow wow dresses. But you also
see teenagers incorporating Superman or other kindof fun cartoon characters into their regalia.
And so it's very contemporary, it'scool, and it's who they are,
(07:44):
who they admire. So you cango this weekend Saturday and Sunday. Correct,
yes, yes, Saturday and Sunday. It is fifteen bucks to get
in. What does that money goto be goes directly to pay for the
dancers, contest money well as thecosts of the putting on the whole event,
from all the tents that we haveto rent, the port of potties,
(08:05):
we rent security. This is nota profit making activity, no,
this is this is a labor oflove. I know that. So that's
why the tickets are so reasonable.Its parking kiss and it's very organized parking.
So it's very organized parking. It'sten dollars for kids six and under.
And this is a wonderful, wonderfulthing to take kids to. I
(08:26):
cannot stress that enough. They've gota great way for you to buy some
food, some fork food that isabsolutely delicious. You can see all the
concessions. You can see the danceof live hawks and eagles. Oh,
yes, Nature's Group. They bringlive hawks and eagles and reptiles and so
kids can learn about how important reptilesand hawks and eagles are to native culture.
(08:50):
It's just a great event. AndHolly Kenney, it's a joy seeing
you as always. And if you'venever eaten at the Fort, if you're
a transplant, put it on yourlist to do it, because it is
a wonderful dining experience. Every timeI go, it is an outstanding dining
experience and I just think to myself, I wish I lived closer. But
that's Oh. We have ticket problemthat I have, Holly, is I
(09:13):
don't have any way to fulfill this. Is there any way we could do
a list? Do you have alist? Yeah? Yeah, can we
if you take sanas, if youget the names, then we'll put it
all at the front door. Whydon't we do this right now, A
Rod. The first four people tocall right now people actually get a ticket.
Well, we'll do four people packsof two. Okay, yeah,
(09:35):
So the first four people that textA Rod just switched it up, text
five six, six, nine oh, saying I want to go. We
will then immediately call you back andget you on the list so you can
go with a friend to this eventthis weekend. Holly, thank you so
much for coming in today. Thankyou, Mandy,
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
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