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Indigenous Cultural Festival

Sept. 23–29, 2024

For the third year in a row, the University of Pittsburgh and the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center will partner to bring the Indigenous Cultural Festival to the Pittsburgh campus in September.

The ICF offers family-friendly educational activities that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of Native Americans in Pennsylvania and across the U.S.

Events begin in mid-September and will include special exhibits at Hillman Library and elsewhere.

Workshops

  • COTRAIC will present a Leather Pouch-Making Workshop at 4 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Center for Creativity. This workshop will explore the historical significance and practical uses of these pouches while mastering the techniques that transform raw materials into beautiful, functional pieces of art. (This event is now full.)
     
  • COTRAIC also will have a Native American Music Workshop at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24. This workshop at the C4C will explore the rich heritage, diverse sounds, and cultural significance of Native American musical traditions.
     
  • In addition, C4C will hold a crafting session to demonstrate the creation of dreamcatchers at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26. (This event is now full.)

    All of these events are in the Understory, B50 Cathedral of Learning.

Mini-Powow Sept. 25

A mini-powwow in Schenley Plaza on Sept. 25 will lead into COTRAIC’s 45th annual powwow, to be held at the organization’s grounds in Dorseyville, Indiana Township, on Sept. 28 and 29.

Admission to the COTRAIC powwow in Dorseyville is free for Pitt affiliates with their Pitt ID. Pitt will provide free transportation for students to attend that event—register now to secure your spot.

A powwow is a sacred social gathering held by indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada. They are usually open to the public and include dancing and singing.

Most events, including the powwows, are free and open to the public. The full schedule will be released shortly.

Sponsors of the festival include Pitt’s Center for Creativity, the Division of Student Affairs, the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and the University Library System.

Upcoming Events

Attend the Festival

For more information, be sure to check the Pitt events calendars each summer, as well as the COTRAIC website below, for dates, times, and other festival information.

Learn More

Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center Website

ABOUT POW WOWS:

A pow wow is a form of celebration. A time that people can come together and talk and laugh and share our dancing and singing. There are Native American pow wows across the country and even in other parts of the world.  If you would like to learn more about the pow wows here some helpful links:

Using “pow wow” to refer generally to a social get-together or to a meeting for discussion is considered to be an offensive appropriation of a term of great cultural importance to Indigenous Americans. Here is an explanation of when the appropriation of the term pow-wow and other phrases may be considered offensive.