IIAmericas Celebration - Indigenous Institute of the Americas

We are pleased to announce our event will be back at the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum (CTOM) again in 2023! Our organization was thrilled with the amazing turnout and support at this new venue in 2022. More than 14,000 visitors (twice what we have ever seen before), from all over Texas and across the Nation came out for this authentic, family-friendly, interactive learning & cultural experience. Many shared this was a first up-close glimpse into the indigenous cultures. We built many new friendships with Johnson County and local communities along with the City of Cleburne. With our 2023 Celebration, we are anticipating doubling the participants and visitors!!!

The CTOM provides an unparalleled rustic outdoor venue which we have come to cherish. It has been described as “where the plains met the big trees” and “where the trees met the rivers and where the buffalo graze in the winter” by people among the Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche. We will be giving honor and recognition to the history and current lives of American Indian and Indigenous peoples who originally protected the land now known as Texas at this venue.

Please don’t miss this exciting historic outdoor gathering of American Indian artists, storytellers, championship dancers, cultural knowledge keepers, traditional cooks, stickball players, singers, and drummers. You can purchase heirloom-quality jewelry, beadwork, pottery, textiles, and other items made with cultural knowledge refined over many generations. We invite you to enjoy the\oral storytellers, herbalists, youth activities, contests, and games. We bring the rich complexity of Native America, past and present.

Friday: Gourd Dance

Saturday: Grand Entry & The John Taylor Inter-tribal and Competition Youth Pow Wow

Sunday: Contests, games, exhibition dancing

Click here to learn more about Sponsorships & Partnerships available if your family wants to sponsor a dance or contest division. Contests being planned this year are ribbon shirts, ribbon skirts, the longest hair contest for men and women, the fastest braider contest, the best NDN jokes, and many more fun activities.

We gear everything so the general public feels welcomed and a part of the festivities. Many opportunities to participate. It’s our small attempts to demystify our culture and diminish stereotypes. The public will be invited to participate in Inter-Tribal dances, Round dances, and Social dances. In addition, a Memorial Honor dance and Veterans Honor dance will be dedicated each day. We hope the community will join us to remember the friends and family lost during the pandemic and honor our Active Duty and Veterans for their service to this country.

History of our Event: IIAmericas Celebration is our new name (formerly Santa Fe Days). We wanted to rebrand our event to match the diversity of Nations represented. We are not just a Southwest Pueblo event. We have representation from more than 40 Nations and Pueblos represented in our volunteers, artists, and educational initiatives. Our event logo this year honors that change with the sacred blue corn.

IIA’s volunteers will highlight the seed ambassador program and other educational activities focused on children and their families. In 2023 we will be honoring the Sacred Oak tree and its acorns. Each child who attends our event will pick an acorn to learn about and take home. If your Nation has unique recipes, stories, songs, or ceremonies related to the Oak and Acorn, please come out to share with us so we can teach our children this history throughout the year.

IIAC is our opportunity to reach Native children and their friends from school, church, and other communities. We bring our culture into the contemporary world as a vibrant living culture rather than something in textbooks which suggests we are extinct. The support from the various Native nonprofits and community