For Native Tribes in Central Louisiana, the Tunica-Biloxi Pow Wow is part of their tradition. In its 18th year, the tribes come together as family.

"When you plant a seed, for a plant and you watch that just grow, to what it is today, we have a lot of relationships that have been built through that time, new relationships that are made and we nurture those and we enjoy that." Said Bert Polchies, a Tunica Biloxi Tribe Member.

But it goes beyond just the Tunica-Biloxi, a Pow Wow is an opportunity to extend compassion to other tribes. For Choctaw-Apache Princess Erica Samples the Pow Wow means carrying on in her ancestors footsteps.

"It's a young voice saying, the people are still here, the younger generations going to come in and be like, we're going to take control as soon as the older generation has gone, we're still here, we're going to be here with our culture." Said Samples.

For Heather Wilkerson of the Mowa Choctaw Tribe, it means passing down her heritage to her 5-year-old daughter Annslee.

"Our culture is actually a dying culture, and if we don't pass it along from generation to generation, it's very important to me that she learns the way of not only our personal tribal culture but the pow wow culture as well." Said Wilkerson.


A native culture that is as important to the tribes as it is misunderstood outside of the family.

"There's a lot of omissions in the true history of this continent, of this country. So we take the time, whenever we get the chance to educate the people about who we really are, not the stereotypes, but who we really are." Said Polchies.
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