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This colorful American Indian festival in Tucson welcomes the new year with cultural pride.
Amid all the new millennium hoopla in 1999, elders of several Indian tribes decided that indigenous people should gather to usher in the next thousand years by showcasing what their people have contributed to the fabric of life — not just for 2,000 years, but for the entire 10,000 years since they settled on this continent. Three “major medicine people” approached organizer Fred Synder about putting together the event, among them Edgar Monetathchi, great-great-grandson of the legendary Quanah Parker of the Comanche people. “These medicine people and tribal elders wanted to do something positive to bring in the new millennium — and something big.”
So they organized what came to be known as the New Millennium First People’s World’s Fair and Pow-Wow. Word started getting out and ABC News picked up the story. Held in Tucson, the event was such a success — some 60,000 people, including Indians from 187 tribes as far away as Australia, turned out to bond and share their culture and stories — that the elders decided it should be repeated an additional three times “to fulfill the sacredness of the number four,” says spokesman Synder.
The second and third installments of the gathering were held in 2004 and 2008; the fourth celebration and powwow takes place in Tucson December 30 through January 8. Called Thunder in the Desert 2012, the event will be a celebration of culture, song, dance, food, and storytelling. “A powwow is about people coming to share likenesses and differences,” Synder says. “Our culture is shared by storytelling, which will play a major role in the upcoming celebration. We will include a midnight friendship round dance to welcome in the new year.” He expects thousands of indigenous people, perhaps from all over the world, to show up.
The mission of Thunder in the Desert 2012 goes beyond gathering for celebration and friendship. Synder says one goal of the elders is to instill pride of cultural heritage into young indigenous people who may have little appreciation for who they are. “Through events like this one,” says Synder, “we hope our young people will learn that we as indigenous peoples have faced major catastrophes and circumstances that have infringed upon our existence for several hundred years, but that our people, our great heritage, and our culture have not only survived, but can be a vibrant part of the fabric of life for another 10,000 years.”
