Sacred Springs Powwow brings cultures together

Local Coahuiltecans believe Spring Lake is truly a sacred place. 

The Coahuitecans believe the spring is their origination site into this world, according to Maria Rocha, executive director of the Indigenous Cultures Institute. 

“Our belief, our creation story says that we wandered the underworld as spirits and when we became people, we found a portal where we swam up on to Mother Earth, and that portal is here in San Marcos at the sacred springs at Spring Lake,” Rocha said. “We know this because it’s documented on a 4,000 year old rock art painting that’s in Comstock, Texas. It’s called the White Shaman Panel. So if you’re coming to this powwow, you’re coming to a place that’s sacred and thousands of years old …  millions of people have come through here, they’ve lived here, they died here, they’re buried here, their spirits are here, their prayers are here. So this place is old, ancient, and therefore sacred.”

The ninth Sacred Springs Powwow will be held on the sacred grounds near Spring Lake at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment on Saturday and Sunday. 

Thomas Wakolee sits still as Standing Bear Princess Katlyn Begshisown finishes braiding his hair.

The first Sacred Springs Powwow took place in 1995 when local music legend, attorney and entrepreneur Lucky Tomblin organized the event. Fifteen years later, the powwow was brought back by the Indigenous Cultures Institute after receiving Tomblin and his family’s blessing. The powwow has become an annual event eversince then.  

“Ever since that time that was back in 2010, (the Tomblin family) supported our powwow,” Rocha said. “So it’s sort of like a joint effort from the past to now that this powwow has gained visibility for Native people and it’s been a very welcoming event that also builds bridges between the dominant culture here in the U.S. and indigenous culture that’s been abiding all these thousands of years, especially here in San Marcos.”

Several presentations and danza lessons will be given at the powwow’s educational tent, including Dr. Mario Garza, the Indigineous Culture Institute’s board of elders chair, annual lecture on the White Shaman panel and Coahuiltecan people’s creation story at the powwow’s Native Culture tent. 

The powwow will feature a screening of the film “Warrior Women,” a documentary that examines the story of mothers and daughters fighting for indigenous rights in the American Indian Movement of the 1970s. The film screening on Saturday at 1 p.m. is in partnership with the San Marcos Cinema Club as a part of the Lost River Film Fest. 

The powwow will also feature over 100 Native American dancers who will compete for prizes. The dancers come from both northern tribes and southern tribes. But the inclusion of Aztec dances is what makes the Sacred Springs Powwow special, said Tim Tallchief, the powwow’s master of ceremonies. 

“I really love this particular powwow,” Tallchief said. “The thing that makes it unique is first of all is an excellent, wonderful facility. I mean right there by the water with that big bluff and, I mean, the place is amazing. 

“But then the great dancers that come in for this, the outstanding singers that are here, then they bring in the Aztec dancers, and you don’t see the Aztec dancers at very many powwow. They have their their own events. And occasionally, they’ll bring in some dancers for exhibition at different places. But this powwow has incorporated the Aztec dancers, and made contest for the Aztec dancers. So the thing that makes this unique is Aztec dance competition.”

There will also be 50 vendors with indigenous arts, crafts and foods. The powwow begins Saturday at 10 a.m. with a blessing of the shores of Spring Lake and the day ends at 9 p.m. with a closing prayer. Sunday’s events begin at 10 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. 

Rocha said around 5,000-8,000 are expected to attend the two-day event. She said attendees will have a spiritual experience at the powwow. 

“It’s not so much what they would see as what they would feel,” Rocha said. “You see authentic native regalia, the clothing that they wear, and it’s just beautiful. It’s so spectacular. But when it’s worn, it’s worn in this dance ceremony, which includes a drum that has a heartbeat sound to it. So when you hear the drum and feel the drum, it brings back ancestral memories for everyone because everyone is indigenous to someplace and everyone’s ancestors at one point or another had drums. So this drum helps you to feel the heartbeat of Mother Earth that we’re part of. And that puts you into this special place which is the Sacred Springs which is also a very special place — the headwaters of a major river here in San Marcos. It’s a very beautiful feeling being outdoors and hearing the drum and feeling the spiritual nature of the event.

“You experience all of the parts there’s also food that you experience and the beautiful dancing and the beautiful regalia and the sound and the singing when the drum is drumming. The singers are singing and they’re singing in native languages. So you get to hear ancient words sung and it’s just an incredible feeling it’s overwhelming sometimes.”