Announcement Indigenous Peoples’ Day Phx Fest 10.10.22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Event Contact: Nicole Underwood, Events@cahokiaphx.com
Media Contact: Candace Hamana, Media@cahokiaphx.com
Downtown Phoenix Businesses, Entrepreneurs and Creatives Collaborate
to Bring Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration in October
— The celebration will be free and open to the public —
Phoenix, Ariz. (July 12, 2022) - Cahokia SocialTech + ArtSpace, named the Best Place to Discover Emerging Artists by Phoenix magazine, announced Indigenous Peoples’ Day Phoenix Fest on Monday, October 10, 2022. Cahokia co-founders Eunique Yazzie and Melody Lewis have partnered with the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation (RRCDC), The Churchill, NDN Collective, Native Guitar Tours, Seven Layer Army skateboards, and many others to create a celebration honoring this nation’s First Peoples.
The event is free, open to the public, and will be from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. It will feature a vendor market, food trucks, skateboard demos and competition, a community zone, Indigenous film screenings with Indie Film Fest, and musical guests on the Main Stage. The Churchill will be the host site for a paid VIP experience that includes an Indigenous fashion show and select musical artists on the NDN Collective Premiere Stage. More information about the VIP experience including ticket prices and performances to be announced in August.
“Indigenous Peoples' Day is about celebrating the indigeniety of people all over the world. This includes Indigenous people belonging to non-federally recognized tribes, First People of other countries, and the 574 federally-recognized tribes in the United States; 22 of those tribes are here in Arizona,” said Lewis. “The festival will provide an opportunity to see and hear accurate representation of the wide diversity of Indigenous cultures, languages, and expressions of art.”
Yazzie, who is a board member with RRCDC, initiated a collaboration between Indigenous creatives and social entrepreneurs to pivot the artistic and cultural direction during COVID. “As the downtown landscape was changing, the RRCDC recognized there were opportunities to align with communities who shared the same goals. We decided to partner with Cahokia SocialTech and Artspace to fully visualize the mission of advancing arts-focused initiatives for artists, entrepreneurs and residents, cultivating creative space within the Roosevelt Row Arts District,” said Yazzie.
The planning committee of this year’s event is 90 percent Indigenous and includes collaborative efforts from over 40 ambassadors and 15 members of Cahokia representing Indigenous-owned businesses and organizations. Other out-of-state organizations like NDN Collective and New Mexico Community Capital are providing additional resources and opportunities to amplify civic engagement efforts during the event.
“We are proud supporters of Indigenous excellence, especially in art, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and sports and we believe that by gathering and celebrating who we are today, we can continue building Indigenous power, one community at a time. We are even more proud to continue supporting Cahokia SocialTech + ArtSpace as they strive to create space for free and liberated thought and expression. We look forward to the opportunity to meet and learn more about the Phoenix area Indigenous community,” said Lycia Maddocks, Political Director and Head of Policy Advocacy at NDN Collective.
For more information please visit the event website at www.ipdphx.com.
Event Details
What: Indigenous Peoples’ Day Phoenix Fest
Where: First and Garfield Streets
When: Monday, October 10, 2022
Time: 3:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Cost: General Admission: FREE, VIP Tickets: to be announced
About Cahokia, Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, and NDN Collective Cahokia is a female-owned, Indigenous-led Social Tech + Art Space in downtown Phoenix. On the ancestral lands of the O'odham and Piipaash, Cahokia is an established enterprise between social entrepreneurs and community-based organizations whose mission is to support and revitalize underrepresented communities through capacity building, place-making, place-keeping, workforce training and collaboration.
Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation (CDC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, whose mission is to advance arts-focused initiatives for artists, entrepreneurs and residents, cultivating creative space within a sustainable Roosevelt Row Arts District. For more information, please follow Roosevelt Row on Facebook and Instagram.
NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
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