‘Reclaiming this space’
Nizhoni Days at 67

Posted by Donovan Quintero | Apr 30, 2026 | Culture |

ALBUQUERQUE

Strong winds bent canopies and swept across Johnson Field at the University of New Mexico on Sunday, but they did little to slow the drums, dancers and families gathered for the 67th Annual Nizhoni Days Powwow.

The powwow, the longest-running Native-run event in New Mexico, has been organized and sustained by the Kiva Club, the Native American student organization that founded it. Club members said the gathering is more than a student-led event.

Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
A dancer in vibrant regalia stands during the Nizhoni Days Powwow at the University of New Mexico’s Johnson Field in Albuquerque on Sunday, April 26, with beadwork, fringe and a feathered headdress set against the open sky.

Aaron Fry (Cherokee/Chickasaw), a UNM professor of Native American art history and the arena director for this year’s powwow, said Native students at UNM began organizing during a period of relocation, post-World War II change and limited recognition of Indigenous rights.

“The Kiva Club started in the 1950s,” Fry said, adding that some early members included Alfonso Ortiz from Ohkay Owingeh. “It wasn’t too long after that they started having the powwow as part of their Nizhoni Days celebration.”

Fry said the powwow stands apart because it was founded and is sustained by Native students.

“Aside from the traditional ceremonies that the Pueblos and the Navajos have, this is the longest-running Native-run event in the state of New Mexico,” Fry said. “Things like Indian Market or Gallup Inter-Tribal, those are started by non-Natives. But this is the longest-running Indian-run event in the state.”

The powwow has remained free and community-centered, with students often working to feed the community at the end of the gathering.

“They’re really trying to make it like old-school powwow, where people come to dance and have fun,” Fry said. “The kids here, they wanted this to be just a really community-focused event.”

To read the full article, please see the April 30, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.

Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.