Native cultural heritage will shine loud and proud this weekend in Dayton. That’s because two local groups hope to raise awareness and promote and protect the rights of indigenous people worldwide.
REACH Indigenous Advocacy and Levitt Pavilion Dayton will host a free arts and music event this Saturday, Aug. 9 – the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. The event starts at 7 p.m.
It’s the second year the Levitt has put on a World Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration. But this one will be much more expansive than last year's event.
“We really wanted to celebrate all of the Native American community that are living in the Miami Valley region and come from so many different nations, as well as acknowledging the lands that we are on and doing that in the right way,” said Lisa Wagner, executive director of Levitt Pavilion Dayton
Indigenous youth will perform Jingle Dress dances, spoken word, and present artwork. These will be followed by a concert by the award-winning blues and rock band Indigenous.
Wagner said the Levitt's goal is to bring music to the community and spotlight entertainers who reflect Dayton's diversity.
The three pre-concert performers were winners of an Indigenous Youth showcase held at last year’s REACH Fest, an annual Native American heritage festival held in Dayton and also hosted by REACH Indigenous Advocacy. Founder Stephanie Van Hoose (Mohawk, MBQ, T-MT) said she’s glad they can celebrate their forms of expression.
The young people descend from several sovereign tribal communities – Hopi, Kiowa, Swinomish, Tlingit and Navajo, said Van Hoose.
“Our children are a living representation of our future, and they carry the best parts of all of us,” Van Hoose said. “So investing in our children is important, and that is going to be the primary focus of our pre-show.”
In collaboration with Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, REACH will also give away backpacks filled with back-to-school supplies.
Van Hoose said she hopes people come away from the event with both joy and connection.
“It's gonna be a wonderful space. So if people walk away with good food, listening to some good music, and see our children and our youth – To me it's about hope, it's about renewal, it is about building connections to each other,” she said.
The band Indigenous has received national acclaim and performed on shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien and CBS Saturday Morning. Mato Nanji, the band's frontman, was born and raised on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
