Tesoro Cultural Center will host its 16th annual Indian Market & Powwow on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15, on the grounds of The Fort Restaurant. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and entrance fees – $5 for adults, $3 for students with valid IDs, and free admission for children under 12 and seniors 65 years and older – benefit Tesoro’s ongoing educational programs.
Tesoro Cultural Center’s Indian Market & Powwow is a yearly tribute to the American Indian tribes that shaped the cultural community of Bent’s Old Fort, an important fur trading post that operated along the famous Santa Fe Trail in the 1830s. In celebration of early Southwestern history, Tesoro hosts nationally acclaimed artists, dancers and drum groups for an art-centered gathering, as well as educational and interactive exhibits on American Indian culture, for a fun-filled, family weekend. Children will love the hawk and eagle demonstrations from HawkQuest, as handlers discuss the importance of raptors in Indian culture. The public is invited to join contestants in inter-tribal friendship dances.
Additionally, artists will sell their wares and demonstrate their crafts in a show juried by the Council for Indigenous Arts and Culture. More than 50 inter-tribal American Indian dancers and drum groups will share their ancestral heritage through traditional dance and regalia. The Colorado Governor’s office has recognized the annual Indian Market & Powwow as the largest authentic American Indian art show in Colorado and has even issued past proclamations of official Indian Market & Powwow Days. New and returning artists attending this year’s Indian Market & Powwow will be listed and continuously updated on Tesoro’s website.
Alongside celebrations of art, dance and cultural heritage, Tesoro’s Indian Market & Powwow honors outstanding American Indian Veterans each year, in observance of Armed Forces Day, in order to thank them for their service.
Delicious concessions featuring Southwestern cuisine are available from The Fort and Northern Colorado Intertribal Powwow Association. All programming supports Tesoro’s year-round mission of protecting and making available to the community the artistic treasures of our American past. Other annual Tesoro events include the 1830s Rendezvous and Spanish Colonial Art Market each September, and the Holiday Auction Party each December.
For more information, call (303) 839-1671, visit www.tesoroculturalcenter.org, or view the informational video.
