08/25/2026
We are excited to announce that the Tennessee Arts Commission, through it's Rural Arts Program (RAP), has awarded us our sixth straight grant for the Spirit of Nations Powwow in 2027!
Funding for these grants comes through the sale of specialty license plates in Tennessee. Learn more at: https://www.tn4arts.org/buy-a-tn-specialty-license-plate.
For 2026 the grant made it possible for us to host the Dine Tah' Navajo Dancers from the Great Navajo Nation. This year's grant will help bring in another incredible dance group next year. We can't wait to tell you about it because you have never seen anything like it in your life!
Randy Solomon from Memphis, a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Indian Creek Productions Advisory Board, knows the importance of having Indigenous groups perform for audiences.
He had to stand up for himself as an 8th grader to get permission to write about Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce for a history assignment. His teacher wanted him to write about a president, but Randy argued that Native Nations had important chiefs too.
"This is why I love to do and encourage our younger singers and dancers to go into schools and have Native programs that encourage young Americans and abroad to learn from our descendants."
By the way, Randy got permission to do his report on Chief Joseph!
Follow this page for more exciting news as we get closer to the Spirit of Nations Powwow, March 13, 2027, at Jefferson County High School in Dandridge.
(Photos by Michael Byerley)
