The 38th Annual Black Hills Powwow brought three days of Wacipi to Rapid City from October 9 through 11, 2026. Known as He Sapa Wacipi Na Oskate, the gathering took place at Summit Arena at The Monument and welcomed singers, dancers, families, artists, and visitors. Its long-running invitation, “Come Dance With Us,” expressed the organizers’ hope that people from across communities would experience and share in the gathering. The weekend offered championship dancing and singing, along with opportunities to connect through Indigenous arts and community activities.
A Wacipi is more than a schedule of performances or a competition. Songs, dances, regalia, and the presence of relatives connect the gathering to knowledge carried across generations. People arrive with different experiences: some to dance or sing, others to support family members, reconnect with relatives, or learn respectfully as guests. Photographs can preserve moments of this gathering, but a picture alone cannot explain every story or teaching within it. Those meanings belong first to the people and communities who carry them.
For Native Sun Media Foundation, the value of covering events like the Black Hills Powwow is both immediate and lasting. Communities deserve a public record that recognizes their celebrations and their ongoing work to keep traditions visible, rather than appearing in the news only during times of crisis. This photo essay is intended as one part of that record, with original photographs credited to DJ Gutierrez. It stands alongside our coverage of the Oglala Lakota Nation Fair and Wacipi in Pine Ridge, while recognizing that these are distinct gatherings with their own histories, organizers, and participants.
