Kamini Purushothaman, Contributing Photographer

At Yale’s 2025 Powwow of Light on Saturday, students and community members from across the Connecticut region gathered in Commons for a celebration of indigenous culture. 

Hosted by Yale’s Native American Cultural Center and the Schwarzman Center, the event featured traditional and contemporary indigenous dancing, drumming, artisan vendors and native dishes. 

“It’s a time that the native community here is able to come together and put on something both for ourselves and the community around us,” Truman Pipestem ’24, the master of ceremonies, said. “At Yale, we don’t really get to come and spend too much time with community members around New Haven and people from the Northeast area, so it’s really good to have this time with them.”

In addition to dancing, performance highlights included drumming by the Thunderbirds and the Yootay Singers, along with a hula demonstration during intermission by six students from the Indigenous Peoples of Oceania at Yale, or Yale IPO.

Audience members also had the opportunity to participate in a stomp dance and potato dance, in which partners competed to keep a potato between their foreheads while dancing. 

Erin Lamb-Meeches, a member of the Schaghticoke tribe who performed women’s northern traditional dance at the Powwow, mentioned that she appreciated how all five tribes in the Connecticut area were represented. 

“I’m really happy that they’re making this a traditional Powwow and not a contest Powwow,” Lamb-Meeches said. “It’s really more about supporting the surrounding indigenous community here to come and share this together.” 

Food, including mutton stew, three sisters stew and blue corn mush was served. Throughout the Powwow, the Commons projectors played a slideshow of quotes and stories from Yale students about family, food and their experiences as part of their indigenous communities. 

The Powwow included various artisanal vendors, along with tables for the Native American Cultural Center, the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project and other university organizations. Quaiapen Perry, part of the Narragansett Nation of Rhode Island and the owner of “Beadwork By Quai,” sold her jewelry.

“I’ve been hearing about the Powwow for maybe 10 years, so I’m glad I finally have a chance to experience it,” Perry said. “I’m excited to share my beadwork up here and bring a little bit of my culture because I know most universities have a diverse native culture.”

According to Junise Golden Feather Bliss, a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe who heard about the event through social media, the Powwow gives visibility to indigenous cultures. 

She said she hopes the Powwow will also spread awareness about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement and the red handprint, a symbol representing the silenced voices of Indigenous women and girls. 

“So many of our women go missing, and we need to stand in solidarity with this red hand movement,” Bliss said. “It’s important to continue to show our culture because a lot of times people are not even realizing we are still here.”

The last Yale Powwow was held in 2023 at Payne Whitney Gymnasium.