Native American Recognition Day (NARD) was celebrated in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on Sept. 25 at the Two Waters Courtyard. The day was divided into two parts, with the lunchtime events starting at 11 a.m. and the evening events ending at 9 p.m. NARD is a day celebrated in Indigenous communities to honor and appreciate Native American culture, traditions and achievements. 

“Native American Recognition Day is not specifically for SRPMIC because we have SRPMIC Day. [For] Native American Recognition Day, we try to celebrate all the Southwest tribes,” said Community Relations Events Division Assistant Adrian Sixkiller.

“We started off with the lunchtime event. We had a Harkins food truck here, [and] Red Bull came and dropped off cans of Red Bull to pass out to the [Community] employees,” said Sixkiller. There were 300 of each item available, along with the option to purchase nachos or a bigger bag of popcorn. 

Festivities continued as a special meal was provided in the Round House Café, and DJ Reflekshin provided the music. Representatives from the Diné-owned fashion label OXDX provided a live on-site screen printing experience, printing O’odham and Piipaash designs on 300 bags. The design was a creation of the Community Relations Multimedia Division. The bags were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. A large paint-by-numbers mural was also set up on-site for a fun interactive activity. 

After a break, the celebration kicked off again in the evening at 6 p.m., again at the Two Waters Courtyard. The evening was filled with performances and a free Hawaiian-style meal. Roughly 20 vendor booths were set up around the courtyard, selling Native crafts and clothing. The paint-by-numbers mural was set up again for attendees to finish, since it wasn’t quite finished during the lunch festivities.

Music and dance performances were provided by the O’odham dance group Chi’Chino Spirit from Gila River, Orohena’s Polynesian Luau and the Yolloincuauhtil Aztec Dancers. Ending the night, Gertie and the T.O. Boys played popular chicken scratch music. Gertie was a fan favorite, and many in the crowd yelled for an encore as they finished their set. 

The wide variety of performances highlighted different cultures in the Southwest, giving them a spotlight in the Salt River Community.

“We want to focus on other Native American groups, so we went out to search for [those] different groups …. Our focus was outside SRPMIC,” said Sixkiller. In previous years the Events team has invited Apache crown dancers and Hopi traditional dancers to the Community for a chance to perform in the NARD festivities.

Promotional items were also available under a big tent off to the side of the celebration. Clear bags, screen cleaners, plush key chains and seat belt covers with the NARD logo were given out to Community members and friends. All items were gone before the night ended.

“I felt it was a good event. Native American Recognition Day is always really fun just because it has two separate parts, the lunchtime event mainly for employees, then the evening event,” Sixkiller said.

Day photos by Chris Picciuolo. Night photos by Andreea Miguel.