For Javin Felipe ’26, co-coordinator for Natives at Brown and vice president of Ninnoug House, the Spring Thaw Powwow has been “one of the most defining experiences” he has had as a Native student.
But the event was canceled this year due to University constraints on large gatherings following the Dec. 13 mass shooting.
This is the first time the event has been canceled since it was founded in 2002. “That’s been a hard reality to face,” Felipe said.
The Powwow — hosted by the Brown Center for Students of Color in coordination with Natives at Brown — typically features dance performances, food and booths selling homemade goods made by Indigenous artisans. It is open to broader community members outside of Brown and draws Native communities from across the Northeast.
Felipe said that the Powwow is both a space for local tribes to come together in celebration and an opportunity for non-Natives to learn “what true Indigenous culture looks like within today’s world.” He added that the event is often the first Powwow in the Northeast each year and “sets the Powwow season within this region.”
But on March 5, the BCSC leadership announced “a one-year pause” on the annual event.
“In the weeks since the shooting, the University community has been necessarily focused on attending to the important process of campus healing and recovery,” BCSC leadership wrote. “This has created some short-term constraints on capacity to facilitate the Powwow (and many other large gatherings) with the care and attention it rightfully deserves.”
In an email to The Herald, Associate Dean and Director of BCSC Vincent Harris wrote that the one-year pause does “not signal an end to the Spring Thaw Powwow, but rather a commitment to sustaining it with the care it deserves.”
BCSC leadership wrote that “the pause will also offer the chance to assess how we can best continue what has become a tradition we have been honored to host each year.”
Jeamilett Martinez ’28, a Departmental Undergraduate Group leader for Critical Native American and Indigenous Studies and a co-coordinator for Natives at Brown, said the cancellation was “quite disappointing” and noted that the reasoning behind the decision was “pretty complicated.”
“Institutionalizing” events like the Powwow through established financial support from the University, she added, is important to shield them from unexpected changes that could cause cancellations.
In the past, the Powwow has been funded by various sources across campus, including “numerous academic departments, centers and institutional partners,” according to Harris.
In an email to The Herald, University spokesperson Brian Clark wrote that “the one-year pause does not portend an end to the Spring Thaw Powwow. Rather, it’s a reflection of the challenges we continue to navigate as a community in the aftermath of Dec. 13.”
He added that the pause provides an opportunity “to determine how the Brown community can best work to sustain this tradition that has been a staple of the regional Powwow community for several decades.”
“This whole campus community has experienced so much loss and trauma,” Felipe said. “The Powwow has always been a way of grieving and healing for the Native students here and everyone else. It’s really unfortunate that (it) hasn’t been able to play out.”
Rachel Wicker is a senior staff writer covering affinity and identity. She is from Athens, Georgia and plans on concentrating in English on the nonfiction track and International and Public Affairs. Outside of writing, she enjoys reading books of any genre and doing yoga.
