Tens of thousands set to gather for nation’s largest powwow

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – More than 100,000 spectators, artists, and Native American dancers are converging on Albuquerque as part of North America’s largest powwow.

The 33rd annual Gathering of Nation’s begins Thursday with the start of the three-day Miss Indian World pageant, one of the best known competitions of its kind. Powwow festivities get underway at noon Friday at the University of New Mexico basketball arena, better known as The Pit, where spectators also can shop at a Native American artists and traders market.

Some 700 Native American tribes in the United States and First Nations in Canada are represented at the Gathering of Nations, which has become Albuquerque’s second-largest annual festival, and brings an estimated $21 million boost to the city’s economy each year.