BERTHOUD, Colo. — Saturday, the Denver Art Museum is hosting the 35th annual Friendship Powwow. The free cultural celebration will make room for Native American art, dance, food and other traditions.
"To the Indian people, it’s even more sacred just because it helps us to remember who we are, where we come from and to share with the non-natives and people who are interested," Rose Red Elk shared.
Red Elk is putting the finishing touches on the work she plans to sell Saturday. She hopes to sell 15 to 20 dreamcatchers at the event.
"It’s all about energy, everything is energy, really, so my dreamcatchers are full of really good energy and besides being pieces of art, I just love making them," Red Elk shared.
Red Elk is originally from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana. She's also a member of the Lakota tribe. She began making art about 15 years ago. She turned to storytelling, song and hand-crafted artifacts to express her Native American culture.
"The most important mission is for me to share the culture and share the simplicity of our wisdom," Red Elk said. "The ancient wisdom of being good to each other."
Red Elk said she's sold at the last 10 to 12 Friendship Powwows. Since moving to Colorado nearly 30 years ago, she said the community and appreciation for the event has grown.
"People are interested because we’ve been, well, we’ve been here a long time," Red Elk explained. "And now it’s time, it’s part of the prophecy in the 21st century, that more wonderful things would happen with indigenous people and more of the world would be looking to them for their wisdom and medicine."
She said powwows have evolved in the last 20 to 30 years to highlight the gathering of tribes, sharing of Native regalia and celebrating with a Grand Entry procession.
"So many people have a love for the Native American culture and their art," Red Elk said.
The powwow begins at 10 a.m. and will go to 5 p.m. at the museum.