MISSOULA — The Kyiyo Pow Wow, one of the nation’s longest running student-led powwows, will be held on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20, in the Adams Center at the University of Montana.
The annual celebration honors the region’s Indigenous heritage and brings together hundreds of dancers and drummers from across the country.
The powwow will feature Native singing, dancing, story sharing and events as the event returns for the 55th year.
Grand entry times are 6 p.m. Friday and at noon and 6 p.m. Saturday. For the first time, admission is free to all members of the public to attend the powwow.
“This year, the committee sat down and decided our major goal was to make Kyiyo free,” said UM student and Kyiyo Native American Student Association member O’Shay Birdinground. “And with the determination of our five-person crew, we did it, we achieved what we thought couldn’t be done.”
UM established a $300,000 endowment to support the powwow in perpetuity in 2021. The endowment is in the name of Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 92. Old Person will be honored during the powwow as the Honorary Master of Ceremony.
