The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony celebrated New Year’s Eve with the 20th Annual New Year’s Eve Sobriety Powwow at the Colony’s gymnasium. The event was open to the community and free to the public.
Dozens of tribal members celebrated the new year with ceremonial drums, songs and dances. Traditionally acknowledging the New Year two weeks before Jan. 1, Native Americans used astronomical observations to create calendars and to monitor the passing of time.
Ceremonial New Year powwows are traditionally held to honor the universe through song and prayer.
Bethany Sam, a spokesperson for the RSIC, said the event was created in 2003 by the Drug Elimination Task Force. “The community needed some healing dealing with sobriety … so the Powwow was created through that coalition,” she said.
She added that the event was a “culturally appropriate sober atmosphere … to address the stereotype America has portrayed Native Americans as drunk Indians caused by historical trauma.”
Sam said the event provided a safe and substance-free environment to ring in the New Year. The event has been drug- and alcohol-free for 20 years.
“You get to see how many people are choosing this way of life,” she said. “It is tough because when you think about our community’s stereotype, this is a way we can say our prayers and hope together for a better community.”
A schedule of all upcoming RSIC events and information about the Colony can be found on their website.
