The 39th Annual CSUN Powwow will take place on Saturday, Nov. 30, to celebrate the American Indian communities living in L.A. Country and throughout Southern California.

The event is scheduled to take place from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Sierra Quad in the center of campus at 18111 Nordhoff St.

The powwow is a longstanding tradition of CSUN’s American Indian Student Association and American Indian Studies Program. The student group and the academic program were created in the wake of the red power movement in the 1970s.

“There are more than 250,000 Americans in Los Angeles County, it is the largest urban population of American Indians in the United States,” said American Indian studies professor Scott Andrews. He added that for some American Indian Angelenos, the event is the one time in the year they get to see each other and hang out.

“You don’t see a neighborhood of American Indians here, Native people are spread throughout the county,” Andrews said. “Events like powwows can be very important for this group of people to get together because they don’t live near each other. We even have people coming outside the county, from as far away as Perris and Hemet.”

Andrews added that even though the powwow is a Great Plains tradition, it’s become a pan-tribal event, one that mixes the customs from local American Indian tribes.

For example, the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, who once resided on the land CSUN now sits on, will open the powwow with songs in their language. Bear dancers from the Chumash Tribe will also be present throughout the day.

The CSUN Powwow will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a gourd dance, a ceremonial dance honoring veterans. It will be followed at 12 p.m. by the “grand entry, a procession including dancers donning traditional regalia, opening blessings, and songs.

The event will include vendors selling arts and crafts, jewelry and popular Native American food such as fry bread. There will also be tables with children’s activities, including ones that encourage elementary school-aged to learn about Native American traditions like the names of animals in Native American cultures. The powwow will continue until 8 p.m.

The annual CSUN powwow is hosted by the American Indian Studies Program and the American Indian Student Association. Its co-sponsors include Associated Students, CSUN Council for Ethnic Studies, University Student Union, University Parking Services, the College of Humanities Dean’s Office and Academic Programming Fund, and the Educational Opportunity Program.

The CSUN Powwow is free and open to the public. On the day of the event, parking is free in the B3 parking structure. Regular parking fees apply in other lots. For more information, contact the CSUN American Indian Studies Program at (818) 677-5030 or via email at csunaisa@gmail.com.