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Photos: Native American Cultural Fair Comes To Artown

For the first time this year, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony hosted their Great Basin Native American Cultural Fair as part of Artown.

The event included native artists and vendors, showcasing crafts and wares indigenous to the Paiute, Shoshone and Washoe tribes.

Michon Eben is the cultural resource manager for the colony, and she says this event is a way to showcase tribal culture to the wider Reno community.

“All Nevadans love Nevada, and as the first peoples of Nevada, I think it’s very important to continue to educate the public about the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, and also to continue to share our culture, our arts, our music, our dance, our theatre and our arts and crafts,” she says.

Tammie Henry is with the Great Basin Native Basketweavers Association, which aims to revive, enhance and promote traditional basketweaving techniques.

“It gives you strength, it gives you the ability to meditate, just putting pieces together," she says. "There’s so much to it, so many levels.”

Henry, along with her fellow native basket weavers, travels throughout Northern Nevada and the Western United States giving community demonstrations. She says it’s important to spread cultural knowledge to natives and non-natives alike.

“The Paiutes, Shoshones and Washoes have so much to share, so much beauty, so much wisdom, it needs to be a part, because we are a part of Nevada. We are Nevada.”

Organizers hope to make the event a part of Artown again next year. 

Aishwarya Krishnamoorthy is a former student photographer at KUNR Public Radio.
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