Auburn's Big Time Pow Wow and Sierra Native Alliance's broader impact

The Earth has a heartbeat – and looking no further than nature, you can feel it. Sometimes, it can be difficult to notice. But oftentimes, it's not hard if you try to concentrate on it. Indigenous Peoples found ways of honoring the Earth and its nourishment, understanding its deep roots connecting to everyone, and its preservation was vital. Carrying on such traditions in the ever-growing metropolitan advancements in technology is a challenge unlike anything before the pilgrims landed. It's both a blessing and curse, easier to distort the line between fact and fiction. But old ways die hard, as the saying goes. Spending time with the Sierra Native Alliance (SNA) in Auburn has made that point conscious. SNA will hold the 18th annual Big Time Pow Wow this Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Gold Country Fairgrounds – a festival where, as Yasmine Acuna puts it, the organization can interact with the community at large, showcasing long-held traditions of Native culture that could perhaps be lost to the ages otherwise. Free to all, the Auburn Big Time Pow Wow runs from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. For more info, visit www.sierranativealliance.org/events. It's a fun-filled event which hosts a market of Native artists, crafts, cultural demonstrations and food booths, according to a press release, attracting many diverse indigenous nations and backgrounds for the purpose of honoring the traditions of their ancestors. It's a way of fellowshipping with the broader community that is common among other events SNA is known for doing in Auburn. Acuna started with SNA as a youth counselor about a year ago; she was originally with them as a youth herself – and the group always held a special place for her. Now in her early 20s, she continues to foster relationships with teens in weekly youth groups. At one such meet-up, kids sat in a circle interviewing two new attendees, asking them questions about themselves like what their favorite TV shows were. In the beginning of every month, Sierra Native Alliance holds a "Sweat" where gatherers sit inside a small igloo-like structure concealed in thick blankets. Hot stones are then dropped into a hole dug out in the center of the earth floor until the temperature begins to rise. The overall experience is transformative – an endurance without exertions, a meditation and a way of communing with spirit at a depth which is marrow-deep. Smelling the air, expelling toxins and an exposure to nature and ancestral prayers, one comes away feeling an existential peace unlike anything. In tune with the area around you, it's like being able to walk in between raindrops. The awareness becomes keen and fixed, leading to a place where the beating of the Earth's heart is felt. The culmination is the upcoming Pow Wow, which honors family and children of yesterday and today, as its flyer reads. It is so many things: a celebration, a history lesson, an awareness of the traditions and culture of an important part of our country's fabric. "I'm so grateful to be able to experience, celebrate and honor the arts and traditions," Jeremy Stephens said about the Pow Wow. For nearly a decade, Stephens has been a steadfast volunteer, working passionately with the SNA to honor and keep traditions going. "It allows various tribes to share their unique forms of expression through dance and song, ensuring cultural legacy continues," Stephens said. "This is my eighth year volunteering for the Auburn Pow Wow. It has become a part of who I am." It brings together people of such storied backgrounds and passes on understanding and tolerance to younger generations, exposing them to crafts and wares all made in America, illustrating unequivocally a diverse perspective while providing space, comfort and safety to the community at large. And it shows that giving back to one's community is something as old as time itself.