This weekend, April 9-10 the Native American Club will hold the 13th annual Pow Wow on the Track Field.

The times are from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and the purpose of the Pow Wow is “to bring culture awareness to the community,” Azere Wilson, Native American club president, said.

The Pow Wow has one important ceremony during this event.

“We’re having a gore dance. The gore dance is the main ceremonies event and it actually preceeds the Pow Wow because the Pow Wow is more dancing for the people and socializing with each other,” Emily Ryder, Native American club adviser, said. “The gore dance is a very important spiritual dance, that carries on tradition and was developed by tribes in the 1800s.”

The clubs that are involved in the Pow Wow are The History Club, The Honors Society Club and Tailor Made.

The Pow Wow has one different kind of regalia that is used.

“A regalia is a special clothing, that is worn for a particular event,” Ryder said.

“It’s usually from the tribes or region your from, that’s who you will represent and it will vary in every different kind of Pow Wow depending on who participates,” Farrah Ferris, ICC representative, said.  “A regalia isn’t used everyday.”

Visitors can enjoy a number of activities at the Pow Wow.

“You can observe the singing, drumming, dancing, arts and crafts, food vendors and their different booths,” Ferris said.

“There’s also social dancing, where everybody is invited to join in the dance and sometimes music is performed, just for listening,” Ryder said.

According to a flier around campus, many types of foods, including frybread, Indian tacos, and desserts will be at the event.

“There will be food there and that is the key element,” Timothy Whitfield, Native American Club member, said.

The reason the first Pow Wow was held was because “there was a Native American student in EC, who wanted to have a Pow Wow at EC. This was approximately 15 years ago,” Ryder said.

The first Pow Wow was held back in 1995 at EC .

“This is the 13th annual Pow Wow, but we missed a couple of years,” Ryder said.

“It’s the largest gathering on campus and it’s the 13th annual Pow Wow this year,” Wilson said.

There will be many fun things to do and everybody will have a good time at the Pow Wow.

“It’s on the EC campus, so it’s good to show student support for your own college and it’s good to understand native cultures and be part of something that exists today and that was from the past,” Ferris said.

There are two main reasons to go down to the Pow Wow Wilson said.

“We want to bring awareness to the community and bring the tribes together to celebrate,” Wilson said.