HAVERHILL — The 22nd annual Intertribal Pow-wow is coming to Haverhill this weekend and will feature a return of the Tlacopan Aztec Indian Dancers, a traditional dance group that was formed about 50 years ago and has not performed here in five years.
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness and the city's Recreation Department, this popular cultural and educational event will be Saturday and Sunday at the Plug Pond recreational area off Mill Street.
The gates will be open each day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Tlacopan Aztec Indian Dancers will present a narrated performance to help the audience interpret the dances and the symbolism of the Aztec's colorful regalia.
Ritual dances dating back to the pre-Spanish conquest are performed by members wearing handmade, beaded costumes and colorful headdresses adorned with macaw feathers and rare 5-foot-long pheasant feathers.
Returning to the event are the Wolf Cry Singers, an intertribal women's hand drum group whose music includes traditional and contemporary Mi'kMaq, Cherokee, Navajo, Abenaki and Delaware songs and chants; Native American drumming and singing by the Iron River Singers and the Urban Thunder Singers
Visitors can tour a tepee, which was a home for transient people like the Plains Indians. The covering is made of canvas, but years ago it was made from buffalo hide.
Arts and Crafts available for purchase include Wampum and beaded jewelry, silver and turquoise jewelry, corn husk dolls, furs, stones, wall paintings, leather-fringe jackets, Native-themed clothing and hats, bamboo musical instruments, ponchos, rattles, blankets and more.
Also offered will be Tumasis (flat Bread), corn soup, powwow tacos, Rez steak, Indian pizza, buffalo burgers, fudge tails, fresh lemonade and iced coffee. Hot dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers and snack foods will also be sold.
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