Residents of Santa Ana and nearby communities came together to celebrate Native American Heritage Month at the annual Native American Heritage Festival on Nov. 16.
Organized by All Occasions Services — an event management company — the event featured 15 different vendors, organizations, local artists and food trucks at Thornton Park. Throughout the day, community members shared dances, songs and stories with the crowd to educate and celebrate Native cultures.
Jamal Isaac Jones, a member of the Navajo Nation of Chinle, Arizona, performed the Men’s Old Style Grass dance. It originated in the northern plains of Omaha, Neb. and is one of the oldest dances in the powwow circle, Jones said.
“It is a warrior society dance, a blessing dance and a healing dance,” Jones told New University.
Photo by Noosha Taghdiri
Having traveled across the country for educational workshops and performing, Jones aimed to educate and inspire people at the festival.
“I just love to share what I do and my prayers and my style of dance and educate, you know, people that never seen the dance before on what it is,” Jones said.
Managing member of All Occasion Services Luke Swenty said members of the community will be able to attend the festival and hopefully experience a culture different from their own.
“It’s a really great community event,” Swenty said. “It brings out diverse, you know, diverse individuals, lets them come out and experience how everybody else in the community lives.”
Photo by Noosha Taghdiri
Santa Ana resident Vanessa Lambaren said she brought her half Native American nieces to the festival in an effort to see their culture represented.
“Anything that’s sponsored by Santa Ana that has Native American stuff, I love to bring them to learn more about their culture,” Lambaren told New University. “In the last couple years, I’ve seen a lot more programs for like, you know, events like this. I think it’s pretty cool. Like, I’ve never seen this in surrounding cities.”
One of the local artisan vendors, Jamie Feballos, owner of Inca’s Empire Novelties Native Art, spoke about the importance of school systems teaching about Native cultures.
“If the school system here will change to teach the kids how Native used to live, where they used to live, where they used to [or] how they used to live, it will be different,” Feballos told New University. “They will appreciate more of this country, they will respect more of the old people, the Natives, they will know what you are.”
He called on communities to have more events like the festival to educate people on culture, tradition, food and different places.
“We need more events like this to show what tradition and culture is,” Feballos said. “Communities will get more together with events like this, with activities and dance, it brings people together.”
Noosha Taghdiri is a News Intern for the fall 2024 quarter. She can be reached at taghdirn@uci.edu.
Edited by Kaelyn Kwon and Annabelle Aguirre
