Beat still strong after 25 years

ALBUQUERQUE, May 1, 2008

The University of New Mexico Arena fell silent early Sunday morning as cleaning crews began sifting through the aisles, picking up the remnants of a milestone Gathering of Nations Powwow.

The Pit hosted 43 drums and more than 3,000 dancers as spectators packed the 18,018-seat arena throughout the annual two-day event.

Although the event attracts a large audience, there were fewer dancers at Saturday night's grand entry than in previous years, when the entire floor was filled and many dancers had to stand in place because the space was so tight.

This year, they had plenty of elbow room in all corners of the arena, though its floors vibrated with their steps and the thumping beats of the drums just as in other years.

The powwow celebrated its 25th year this past weekend, and organizer Derek Matthews noted that it has come a long way from its beginning as a UNM-sponsored event.

"It was a small powwow and when the university didn't want to continue with it we thought we could continue with it," he said. "We believed that we could do it and found people believed that we could do it.

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"It is obvious that this powwow has grown beyond leaps and bounds," Matthews said with little, if any, exaggeration.

Good deal for all

The Gathering of Nations, besides being the biggest powwow in North America, has evolved into a bonanza for the local economy. It brings sold-out hotels, packed restaurants and tourism.

While the city and the Albuquerque Convention and Visitor's Bureau doesn't collect figures on its economic impact, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey around last year's powwow and determined that the event attracted 112,000 people to the city and generated about $35 million in revenue.

UNM rakes in $40,000-$50,000 per day in fees from the event, according to the Pit auxiliary services office. The university uses some of the fees it collects to fund tuition discounts and other financial assistance for Native students, according to Matthews.

The Gathering is also a major revenue engine for the dozens of vendors who sell from booths inside and outside the Pit. Matthews said one vendor told him she sells enough at the Gathering to help her get through the year.

"So it really does help everybody, all down the line, a good deal," he said.

The money generated from booth fees, contestant registration and admissions goes to pay the head staff and contest winners. What's left goes toward the next year's powwow, Matthews said.

Admission prices ranged from $12 to $15, and two-day passes were $26. Vendor spaces rented for $500 and numbered around 500 this year.

One cost increase that many people noticed - and complained about - was the parking fee, which doubled from $5 a day to $10 a day this year. The parking fees were set by the university, powwow organizers noted.

"A whole lot of the money goes into this year's powwow," Matthews said. "Hopefully we have a little bit to go into next year then we start getting busy with fundraising and looking for sponsors.

"Whatever we can do to try and build it because each year the economy is going through the roof and to get the powwow going costs a lot," he said. "And we try to keep the dancers interested and try new and different things. All of that requires expenses so it's really important to find sponsors out there."

All the way from Canada

This year Matthews worried about the impact of rising fuel costs on attendance. With many performers making a living from dancing and singing alone, high gas prices were blamed for keeping some home.

Those who did make it included fancy shawl dancer Shaylen Many Huts of Siksika, Alberta, making her first trip to the Gathering.

"I've been wanting to come down every year and finally I got the chance," she said.

She and some friends drove down from Canada by way of Seattle. The total drive time was about 37 hours, she said.

"(Gas prices) went up to like $3.50, $3.60-something (per gallon)," she said. "I didn't keep track of how much we spent. It was pretty bad in some places and in others it was OK. There were five us in two cars traveling down. We left Siksika on Monday night...and we got here Wednesday night."

Many Huts said they took turns driving and made several stops along the way.

"We did the tourist thing," she smiled. "We stopped at the Hole in the Rock. We saw the Looking Glass and some dinosaur museum. It was pretty fun."

Hotels in Albuquerque, especially near the arena, were fully booked for the weekend, including the host hotels that gave discounts. Many Huts said she and her friends reserved their rooms months in advance.

Room rates weren't bad and Many Huts believes that gas prices, although intimidating, also didn't deter many people from coming to the event.

The Poundmaker Singers, from the Poundmaker Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, piled into three vehicles and spent 80 hours on the road to make their first visit to the Gathering. Their caravan added two more vehicles full of powwow-goers along the way.

"The singing was pretty good here," said Cornell Tootoosis, one of the 11 singers. "It was good competition and good singing."

It took almost $500 for gas for each vehicle to make the trip from Canada, he said. The two vehicles that joined midway each spent about $200 on gas.

In total they spent about $1,100 on hotel accommodations for the weekend and food was about $100-120 for a big meal when all 11 singers, plus their three female backup singers, ate together.

Altogether, the group expected to spend about $6,000, round trip, for fixed expenses alone, Tootoosis said.

They made the trip with assistance from their tribal government, proceeds from CD sales, and community support, he said. The rest of the money was earned by the members, all of whom hold day jobs.

"We're really glad that we came and we met a lot of people here," Tootoosis said. "The people really liked the music we sang and they made it worth it, totally."

The Gathering of Nations powwow began 25 years ago with Matthews serving as an advisor to the university committee that put it on. Once UNM dropped it, Matthews and other organizers took on the project and along the way recruited others who believed in it too.

"It's been fantastic," he said of watching the event develop into the continent's pre-eminent gathering of Native peoples. "It's like having a child and raising it. To be here and still be around for 25...there's a lot of people who don't make it for 25 years of anything. We're just happy and thankful and we're just happy with what it's done for people."

Matthews believes the event has helped its youngest participants stay clear of drugs, alcohol and gangs. Instead of creating mischief, a lot of the younger people who come to a powwow have a great time and meet a wide variety of great people, he said.

"The state benefits too when (powwow-goers) leave. They visit various parts of the state, reservations, monuments, and they vacation for tourism, so it spreads around," he said.

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