SALT LAKE CITY — A special tradition in Salt Lake City invited everyone to join their dances at Liberty Park during Thursday's Pioneer Day celebrations. The United Communities Powwow brings together people from various tribes and communities to celebrate both Indigenous and American history.
"The powwow circle just calls out to me," said Kayden Denny, Head Lady Dancer for United Communities Powwow.
For Denny, who has been participating in this tradition for 15 years, the gathering is about family and community.
"To see my family together, from far and close, and it's just so amazing to be able to see all my friends and all my little students. I have call them my little friends, my best friends," she said.
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As Head Lady Dancer this year, Denny leads the celebration with a clear purpose.
"To bring people together, to recognize each other," she explained, "and to love each other."
The powwow includes thanking those who have contributed to the nation's history, saying prayers, and spreading love to all attendees.
"We have a Native American history as well, and with this powwow, calling it United Communities is basically accepting each other as who we are and accepting that we're here and that we can connect, and we can clearly there's a lot of diversity here already," Denny added.
Emerson Bill, a member of United Communities Powwow, explained how the different tribes express their identities through their regalia.
"You see that the powwow here, you see many dancers, they all look the same, but they're all different tribes," he said. "The way we identify is through a bead, jewelry, or a headdress."
The Pioneer Day event celebrates multiple cultural histories.
"Celebrate the arrival of the Mormon people. But we, as the people that live here in this valley, showed them and welcomed them in here," Bill explained. "We like to showcase their spirit in dancing."
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