For the seventh time, the University of Virginia’s Native American Student Union will host its annual powwow on Sunday on the University’s South Lawn.
Mya Marquez, a third-year linguistics and behavioral neuroscience student, leads the organization and serves as the event’s lead organizer.
She spoke with UVA Today about the event, the Native American Student Union and her academic interest.
This is Mya Marquez’s second year being a part of powwow planning, but her first as president. (Contributed photo)
Q. You are organizing a powwow. When is it and what can people expect?
A. Powwows are the celebratory organization of Indigenous tribes from all over the Americas, as well as the rest of the world, where Indigenous culture and identity are celebrated through drumming and dances, as well as vendors that support Indigenous-owned arts and goods. The first powwow at UVA was held in 2015 and was funded by the Jefferson Trust.
This year’s annual powwow will be held Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on the South Lawn and includes dancers, drummers and many vendors, including the only Native-owned food truck in Virginia, called Hungry Hungry Arrow, which sells fry bread. It is open to all members of the community, regardless of Indigenous affiliation.
Q. Anything unique about this year’s event?
A. Each powwow is different, as each president who takes on planning steers it in their own unique direction. In my role, I want this powwow to not only bring awareness to Indigenous identity, but also to advocate and support the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement, a national movement to end violence against Indigenous women who face it at disproportionately high rates.
This year, we have invited a nonprofit that supports that movement called Not Our Native Daughters. All donations that come through our raffle will go straight to this nonprofit. Third-year student Sophia Rose Latham and doctoral student Kaarin Percy are creating handmade crocheted dolls that will go out to our raffle winners. Each of the four dolls is dressed in Indigenous regalia from all over the world.
Q. When did your involvement with the Native American Student Union start?
A. I joined NASU my second year and pretty immediately took on a role with powwow planning.
In my second year, I was mainly in charge of seeking out local Native-owned businesses to promote their art and crafts, as well as supporting organizations that have a drive and mission to support local tribes, especially the Monacan Nation.
