All activities are included with general admission. Activities take place on both days. Seating for performances is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. See the Family-Friendly Activities Guide stop by the Family Drop-in Zone in the museum lobby to learn more about activities for young audiences.

10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Linoleum Block Printing Workshop & Live Paint with River Garza
Location: Ethnobotanical Garden

Discover the art of linoleum block printing, using designs created by artist River Tikwi Garza (Tongva), who was inspired by Tongva iconography, basket patterns and elements of his own artistic practice.

River will be live painting a new art piece on site throughout the festival, and you can also see some of his completed work in our exhibitions, California Continued: Human Nature and Reclaiming El Camino: Native Resistance in the Missions and Beyond.

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Waging Words: Poetry by Indigenous Women
Location: Sprague Gallery

In-gallery poetry readings by established and emerging Native poets, exploring their lived-experience as Indigenous women living in Los Angeles and responding to the themes and ideas in the exhibition Reclaiming El Camino. Curated by Pamela J. Peters (Navajo).

Saturday:

• Emily Clarke (Cahuilla Band of Indians)
• Lissett Vega (P'urhépecha) 
• Solange Aguilar (Mescalero Apache, Yo'eme, and Filipinx (Kalinga & Kapampangan)

Sunday:

• Emily Clarke (Cahuilla Band of Indians)
• Jessica Fremland (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota)
• Tazbah Rose Chavez (Dinè, Nüümü, San Carlos Apache) 

11:30 a.m. | Storytime with Cindi Alvitre
Location: Family Drop In Zone in the Museum Lobby

Cindi Alvitre is a mother and grandmother, and she has been an educator and artist-activist for over three decades. She is a descendant of the original inhabitants of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Cindi currently teaches American Indian Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Cindi will share a reading from her children’s book Waa’aka’: The Bird Who Fell in Love with the Sun.

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Sundance Institute Short Film Screenings 
Location: Autry Theater

The 2024 Sundance Indigenous Shorts Tour comprises 7 shorts from the past two years of the Sundance Film Festival and one legacy short from Indigenous Program Alumni and creator of Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo. Introduction by representatives of the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program.

Bay of Herons (2023) Directed by Jared James Lank
Winding Path (2024) Directed by Alexandra Lazarowich and Ross Kauffman
Headdress (2023) Directed by Tai Leclaire and David Spadora
Ekbeh (2023) Directed by Mariah Eli Hernandez-Fitch
Baigal Nuur – Lake Baikal (2023) Directed by Alisi Telengut
Hawaiki (2023) Directed by Nova Paul
Sunflower Siege Engine (2023) Directed by Sky Hopinka
Goodnight Irene (2005) Directed by Sterlin Harjo

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EMBERS Young Native Playwrights Festival (suitable for ages 10 and up) 
Location: Autry Theater

For eight weeks, Native students  (Grades 7-12) from across the United States and Canada have been learning the art of playwriting. Join Native Voices as they share the works created during this process, ranging from short plays to selected scenes. We invite you to celebrate this next generation of Indigenous Storytellers.

Performances in Heritage Court

12:30 p.m. | Tongva Flute Music
Tongva culture bearer and artist Lazaro Arvizu opens the afternoon performances on our Festival Stage. Lazaro plays musical instruments that originate in the Los Angeles Basin Tovaangar. His indigenous music expresses the experience of being on this land for many generations and all of his instruments are made of local natural materials.

1 p.m. | Wildhorse Singers and Dancers
Since 1989, Wildhorse Native American Association has been assisting urban Native American children and adolescents with cultural preservation. Gather around the drum with these talented youth as they demonstrate traditional powwow dance styles and traditional songs.

2 p.m. | Hoop Dance Workshop
The art of hoop dance honors cultural traditions from multiple Indigenous communities that first employed hoop dance as a healing ceremony. Today, hoop dance is shared as an artistic expression to celebrate, share and honor Indigenous traditions. Try your skills in a workshop with world champion hoop dancer, Terry L. Goedel (Yakama/Tulalip).

3 p.m. | Wildhorse Singers and Dancers
Since 1989, Wildhorse Native American Association has been assisting urban Native American children and adolescents with cultural preservation. Gather around the drum with these talented youth as they demonstrate traditional powwow dance styles and traditional songs.

4 p.m. | Hoop Dancing with Terry L Goedel (Yakama/Tulalip) and n8tivehoop
See an extraordinary display of artistry, athleticism and tradition in a multigenerational performance by renowned hoop dancers from the Goedel Family. Each dancer presents their own variation of the intertribal hoop dance, weaving in aspects of tradition and culture. Following the performance, Terry will sell and sign copies of his new memoir The Circle of Light: A World Champion Hoop Dancer's Journey to Embracing His Native Root.

More things to do:

In the Festival tent, meet culture bearers from the Ti’at Society and the Tongva Basketweavers Collective to learn more about cultural preservation and revitalization from descendants of the original inhabitants of Los Angeles and Orange Counties and the Southern Channel Islands off California’s coast (Booth C1 and B2).

See a Lakota tipi on the festival grounds created by noted Lakota artist Rex “Wambli Sapa” Carolin; visit Rex in booth A-0 to learn more. 

Stop by the Visitor Services Desk in the museum lobby to pick up a Self-Guided Museum Tour to learn more about California Native Artists and Cultures.

Admission to the museum is included with the ticket price, where you will find works on display that explore the visual diversity and excellence of Native American arts including pieces from California Native artists Rick Bartow (Wiyot), Gerald Clarke Jr. (Cahuilla Band of Indians), Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu), River Garza (Tongva), Leah Mata Fragua (yak tityu yak tithini Northern Chumash), Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) and Fritz Scholder (Luiseño). See these and other works, contemporary and traditional, by Native artists from across the country, integrated throughout our galleries.