Marie Ponce Native Hoop Dancer Queens Farm Pow Wow
Special Admission Days
Friday–Sunday, July 26, 27, 28, 2024 Friday: Gates open at 6:00PM; Performances 7–10PM Saturday: Gates open at 10:00AM; Performances 12–5PM & 7–10PM Sunday: Gates open at 10:00AM; Performances 12–5PM
Please join the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers for our 45th Annual Grand Mid-Summer Pow Wow Friday, July 26, through Sunday July 28, 2024, at the Queens County Farm Museum (73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, NY).
Gates are open Friday at 6 PM and Saturday and Sunday at 10 AM. Pow Wow dancing will be Friday 7-10 PM, Saturday 1-5 PM and 7-10 PM and Sunday 1-5 PM. Gourd Dancing at noon on Saturday and Sunday.
New Dancers Contest Prize Money Rewards in honor of our 60th Anniversary!!! See Prizes below…
L to R: Isabelle Cespedes, Michael A Taylor, Matoaka Eagle, Carlos Ponce, Marie Ponce, Kitty Mullen, Ciaran Tufford Photo by Jonathan Slaff.
Admissions must be purchased on-line and preferably in advance. To purchase admission, go to queensfarm.org, under Events select Thunderbird Powwow, then “Get Tickets” and purchase on the linked EventBrite page. There are some limits on the number of attendees allowed, and although this is quite high, it is recommended to buy tickets in advance.
L to R: Kitty Mullen, Isabelle Cespedes, Dale Legones at Theater for the New City Annual Concert, NYC
Dancer registration Friday 5-7 PM & Saturday after 11 AM. Contest dancers must register by Saturday 1 PM. Although the majority of contest points are given Saturday and Sunday, participation points are awarded for Friday night dancing. Contests will run rain or shine. All dancers must pay a single day admission fee (covering the full weekend) before they enter the pow wow grounds, but there is no dancer registration fee. Admissions can only be bought on-line, preferably in advance: go to
L to R: Thunderbird Members Alan Brown, Carlos Ponce, Julian Gabourel, Ciaran Tufford, Michael A Taylor Dale Legones, marie Ponce, Kitty Mullen, Louis Mofsie
QUEENSFARM.ORG, under Events select Thunderbird Powwow, then “Get Tickets” and purchase on the linked EventbriteTBA page. Overnight Accommodation: Dancer RV’s must be moved into the parking lot overnight; no overnight tent camping. Get Tickets Go to: https://www.queensfarm.org/thunderbird-american-indian-powwow/
L to R: Heyna Second Sons: Louis Mofsie, Ciaran Tufford, Matoake Eagle, Sandy Capasso, Michael A. Taylor Matt C. Cross, Carlos Ponce sing at Theater for the New City, NYC
Dancers Prizes!!!!:
For Adult Dance Contest Categories:
MEN’S TRADITIONAL ,WOMEN’S TRADITIONAL, MEN’S & WOMEN’S FANCY
PRIZES:1ST $800 2ND $500 3RD $300 4TH $200
For YOUNG WOMEN & YOUNG MEN Dance Contest Categories
L to R Pictured: Thunderbird American Indian Dancers at Queens Farm: Louis Mofsie (Winneabago/ Hopi), Marie Ponce (Lokono-Taino/ Cherokee) , Michael A Taylor (Choctaw), Alan Shooting Star Brown (Lenape/Delaware)
DANCING ♦ SINGING ♦ CONTESTS CRAFTS ♦INDIAN FOOD FOR INFORMATION CONTACT (718) 347-FARM or WWW.QUEENSFARM.ORG or WWW.THUNDERBIRDAMERICANINDIANDANCERS.ORG
This spectacular 3-day event is NYC’s largest Powwow and one of the top ten in the USA. It features intertribal Native American dance competitions by over forty Indian Nations. The Grand Entry showcases the dancers’ full regalia and The Sunset Lighting of the Bonfire is an enchanting ceremony. Program features an expansive market of authentic Native American art, crafts, jewelry and food (don’t miss the fry bread!). An immersive cultural experience not to be missed!
Advance tickets recommended. Online tickets required. Performance schedule to come.
Friday, July 23: 6 PM – 10 PM Saturday, July 24: 10AM – 10 PM Grand Entry 1 PM and 7 PM Grand Entry 7 PM Sunday, July 25: 10AM – 5 PM Grand Entry 1 PM Bring your own seating Pow-wow open rain or shine FREE PARKING
QUEENS COUNTY FARM MUSEUM 73-50 LITTLE NECK PKWY. FLORAL PARK, NEW YORK11004
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THUNDERBIRD AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS SCHOLARSHIP FUND & QUEENS COUNTY FARM MUSEUM EDUCATION FUND
Directions to Queens County Farm Museum:
By Car: Grand Central Parkway to Exit 24 South (Little Neck Parkway) or Long Island Expressway (495) to Exit 32 South, to Farm Entrance Gate. Free Parking available at the Farm. Subway/Bus: E or F Train to Union Turnpike/Kew Gardens station. Transfer to Q46 bus eastbound to Little Neck Parkway. Walk 3 blocks north to Farm Entrance Gate. Long Island Railroad: To Floral Park or Little Neck Station, where car service is available.
DANCER REGISTRATION Dancer registration is Friday 5-7 PM & Saturday after 11 AM. Contest dancers must register by Saturday 1 PM. Although the majority of contest points are given Saturday and Sunday, participation points are awarded for Friday night dancing. Contests will run rain or shine. All dancers must pay a single day admission fee (covering the full weekend) before they enter the pow wow grounds, but there is no dancer registration fee.
Admissions can only be bought on-line, preferably in advance: go to queensfarm.org/events.html, click on “POWWOW TICKETS” and purchase by clicking on the linked EventBrite page. Overnight Accommodation: Dancer RV’s must be moved into the parking lot overnight; no overnight tent camping.
Artists Craftspeople Vendors please send vendor booth requests to thunderbirdvendors@gmail.com with picture(s) of your booth and list of items or mail in requests to: Limited number of booth available on Museum grounds.
Thunderbird Vendors Committee
c/o Marie Ponce
Box 521 College Station New York, NY 10030
DANCE CONTESTS Friday Gates Open 6 PM Crafts and food stands 6 – 10 PM Pow Wow Dancing 7 – 10 PM Sunset Lighting of the Bonfire
Saturday 10 AM Gates Open 10 AM – 10 PM Crafts and food stands 12 – 1 PM Gourd Dancing 1 PM Grand Entry 1- 5 PM Pow Wow Dancing 7 PM Grand Entry 7-10 PM Pow Wow Dancing Sunset Lighting of the Bonfire
Sunday
10 AM Gates Open 10 AM – 10 PM Crafts and food stands 12 – 1 PM Gourd Dancing 1 PM Grand Entry 1- 5 PM Pow Wow Dancing
It was about 3 p.m., and everyone and everything seemed to be melting simultaneously at the 36th Annual Thunderbird American Indian Mid-Summer Pow Wow in Queens, New York. Children cared little for play, and parents, armed with umbrellas and water and blankets for the ground, looked defeated by the sweltering heat.
At the other end of the dirt-grass pow wow grounds kneeled a woman by a semi-naked tree. She was in the middle of a weaving demonstration – stitching, thread-by-thread, periodically yanking like crazy on the threads connected to a rope lassoed to the trunk. A small crowd had gathered around her, stealing the spotlight from the bopping dancers, each on the brink of heatstroke. The woman, Miriam Gomez, is Mayan and traveled to Queens from Guatemala with her husband, Erickson, and son, Erickson Jr., to sell their ware, which included clothing, beadwork and little Mayan trinkets patrons would poke and massage with their greasy sunblock fingers.
Erikson holding his first ever, fully-beaded vest. (Cliff Matias)
“She’s making aguipi,” Erikson said. “It’s a Mayan blouse. This one will take five to six months to complete.”
Just on the other side of the tree, Erikson Jr. was busy winding yarn around a lock of a woman’s hair. “Hair wrapping” Erikson called it. Other women had congregated near Erikson Jr., pretending to shop at nearby vendors, so as to jump at the chance of being next.Erickson, portly and with a pleasant disposition, explained that he and his family travel to the U.S. every year on visa about this time to sell their work at pow wows; then it’s back to Guatemala until the next pow wow season. They’ll travel all over the east coast before it’s time to return home again where they continue in their trade, named Mayan Weaving…..Read More
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Thunderbird American Indian Dancers 