Annual Native American Celebration October 14 and 15

LAKE LOS ANGELES, Calif., — California State Park’s Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park (SHP) will host the Native American Celebration event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 14 and 15, 2023. The celebration will include a dance arena featuring various Native American dancers, traditional Chumash stories, and arts and craft displays.

The celebration kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday, with a blessing by Chumash/Tataviam elders Ted and Dennis Garcia. The dance arena will feature Blue Star, a Northern Style drum group from southern California. Throughout the day, the dance area activities will rotate between native dancers with music by Blue Star, hoop dancing by Sage Romero (Piute/Taos Pueblo), Yaqui deer dancers, and Aztec culture and dancing with Danza Azteca Xochipilli.

Ted and Dennis Garcia (Chumash/Tataviam) will share traditional Chumash stories in the native plant garden outside Joshua Cottage. Hands-on activities include working with clay and pounding acorns and pine nuts at the touch table exhibit in Joshua Cottage. Visitors can also tour the museum, staffed with docents.

Flint knapper Mike Thompson will demonstrate how to make arrowheads. The Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, and United American Indian Involvement will provide information about their organizations.

Sage Romero (Piute/Taos Pueblo), 2022 Wolf McMasters (Cherokee/Creek), 2022

The two-day event will feature Native artists selling jewelry, beadwork, gourd art, paintings and crafts. Artists at the event include Cydnee Ashmore (Diné), Cecelia Begay (Navajo), By Blood Creations (Cherokee/Creek), Danza Axteca Xochipilli (Aztec), Judy Einboden (Panamanian), Rowan Harrison (Navajo/Pueblo of Isleta), Roxanne Yellowhorse Jarred, Gloria Jensen, Keith LongFeather (Cherokee), Maria Martinez and Sacred Creations (Yaqui), Sage Romero (Piute/Taos Pueblo), Margo Torres (Apache), Nayeli Vazquez (Aztec), and Michael Chas Williams (Wichita). Visitors can also purchase Wildhorse Native American Association’s Indian tacos and fry bread.

Event: Annual Native American Celebration

Time and Date: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 14 and 15, 2023. Gates open at 10:45 a.m.

Admission: $8 for adults (cash only). Children 12 and under are free.

Location: Antelope Valley Indian Museum SHP, 15701 East Ave. M, Lancaster. Parking is free.

Directions: From the 14 Freeway in Lancaster, go east on Avenue K to 150th Street East. Turn right and go south for two miles to Avenue M. Turn left and go east on Avenue M for 1 mile to the museum.

Antelope Valley Indian Museum SHP contains the combined collections of Howard Arden Edwards and Grace Oliver. The museum exhibits over 3,000 rare objects from the Antelope Valley, Great Basin, and the Southwest. The Antelope Valley was an important four-way trade route at least 4,000 years ago. The trade route enriched the material and social resources to Antelope Valley residents, allowing large villages to develop near the valley’s springs.

Native dancers are encouraged to join and should contact the museum at 661-946-3055 prior to October 13 for complimentary admission.

The event is a fundraiser for the Friends of the Antelope Valley Indian Museum. Pets are not allowed at the event. For more information, contact the museum at (661) 946-3055 (711 TTY relay service), or visit the website at www.avim.parks.ca.gov. Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AVIndianMuseum.