“Powwow People” (2025) is a documentary that draws viewers into the vibrant world of contemporary Native American powwow culture — a cornerstone of community life in which participants express identity, belonging, and heritage through song and dance. The film is shaped by the poetic sensibility of visual artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, born 1984), offering an intimate portrait of a powwow – conceived, hosted, and documented – from within the community it celebrates.
This film screening is in collaboration with the Des Moines Art Center exhibition, “Topographies: Mapping Being and Belonging,” on view in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery from June 13 – September 20, 2026.
Free; no registration required. Film run time: 1 hour, 28 minutes.
Image: still from the documentary “Powwow People” by Sky Hopinka.