WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — The WilCo Pow Wow brought Native American culture to life at the Wilson County Fair grounds, where visitors experienced traditional dancing, competitions and authentic cuisine including buffalo burgers with fry bread.
The event's coordinator Cindy Yahola has kept her family tradition alive by hosting the WilCo Pow Wow for more than two decades.
"This is an event my father started 44 years ago and when he passed away 23 years ago he asked me to keep it going for him," Yahola said.
Her family heritage in the Southeast dates back hundreds of years before forced relocation changed everything.
"The Muscogee Creek tribe was originally located here in the southeast part of the United States before Andrew Jackson removed us all during the Trail of Tears," Yahola said.
Yahola and her daughter Aspen are far from their tribe after its forced relocation to Oklahoma.
"We're both enrolled citizens with Creek Nation out of Oklahoma," Yahola said.
Her family moved back over 100 years ago when her grandfather and uncle came to Lebanon to attend Cumberland Law School in the 1920s.
The dancing competitions, food and music Yahola coordinates help anyone who shows up understand Native American heritage.
"That's one thing we want to do is that people open their minds and experience what native culture will be like and is like instead of what they may have been taught in school," Yahola said.
"You have people where you can actually go up and talk to and learn about what they're wearing, what they're eating," Aspen Yahola said.
Even the clothing carries deep meaning and spiritual significance.
"You see the cones? Many of them, many of the adult women, they will have 365 cones on their dress to represent 365 days in a year. Which is one prayer for each day," Aspen Yahola said.
A shared sense of pride passed down from generation to generation shares both history and heritage.
The WilCo Pow Wow continues Sunday at the Wilson County Fair grounds.
Want to learn more about cultural traditions in your community? Watch our full coverage of the WilCo Pow Wow and share your own family heritage stories with reporter Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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