A student-led event at Chemawa Indian School has honored veterans for generations.
A group of Mexica dancers perform the Apache, fire and dove dances in front of indigenous veterans and others at the Veterans Powwow at Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 8, 2025.
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Guy Schultz has participated in many veterans powwows, usually in the honor guard, having served in the U.S. Army in the 1970s.
But until this weekend, Schultz had never before carried the Eagle Staff, a large wooden staff covered in eagle feathers. It’s a sacred emblem of seniority among Indigenous service members and is featured at all powwows.
Schultz held the staff in front of him as he led the Grand Entry at the Chemawa Indian School’s Veterans Powwow on Saturday.
“I was very honored for it,” Schultz said afterwards with tears in his eyes. “I’m still touched about it.”
Schultz, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, was one of many veterans at the annual event open to the public, complete with dancing, food and many vendors.
Guy Schultz, a Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Honor Guard member, shows his various patches and pins at the Veterans Powwow at Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 8, 2025.
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Grand Ronde Veterans’ Little Miss Princess Elesia Crawley, center left, scans the gymnasium during grand entry with Grand Ronde veterans’ warrior Brendyn Smallwood, center right, and his grandfather, U.S. Army veteran Ronald Tuomi, right.
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Delia Deleon of the San Carlos Apache tribe closes her eyes as her mom, Skye Coburn, does her hair before she dances.
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Patrick Ross of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes dances the grass dance with a headdress of porcupine quills and an eagle feather. Part of the dance is to honor the dead porcupine and other animals that are used in his regalia, said Ross. Honoring those who can’t dance, Ross added, is why he dances.
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Chet Clark, a Navajo elder and Chemawa graduate from the class of 1957, sings and drums. The 86-year-old, who travels to powwows to perform around the country, says he’s been drumming all his life, as early as he can remember.
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Anndrea Phillips, a Blackfeet and Hunkpapa Sioux dancer, performs the jingle dance. Phillips wore regalia made by her great grandmother, a Blackfeet elder who went to school at Chemawa. Her grandmother passed it down to her when her cousin, the regalia’s original recipient, died.
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Jaime Uribe, a Mexica Aztec man, dances the Apache, fire and dove dances wearing a headdress made of red pheasant feathers and a jaguar head.
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From left, Fernando Ramirez-Soto Jr. of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and Grand Ronde veterans’ warrior Brendyn Smallwood look at a spider web while in between dances.
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Napolean Hodgers of the National Association for Black Veterans gets food after grand entry.
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Nellie McConville of the Nez Perce Tribe shops at one of the vendor booths, which sold veterans hats, dreamcatches, beaded earrings and other among indigenous goods.
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Patrick Ross of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes focuses as he ties part of his regalia.
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Jaime Uribe, a Mexica Aztec man, puts on his headdress made of red pheasant feathers and a jaguar head.
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Fernando Ramirez-Soto Jr. of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, center left, Navajo dancer Ziyah Diaz, center, and Grand Ronde veterans’ warrior Brendyn Smallwood, center right, dance.
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Navajo dancer Ziyah Diaz, 6, looks to his family in excitement after receiving a $5.00 prize for his dancing.
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A chef from AJ’s, an indigenous food stand, flips fry bread frying in hot oil.
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Richard VanAtta, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Honor Guard, wears Vietnam veteran beads and a beaded marines necklace.
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Veterans from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Honor guard and the National Association of Black Veterans bear flags during grand entry.
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A Mexica dancer wafts burning herbs as her group begins dancing the Apache, fire and dove dances.
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Blankets with red handprints, a symbol representing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis, sit folded in the gymnasium as two women watch the Veterans Powwow. Indigenous people, particularly women and girls, face disproportionately high rates of disappearance and murder.
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Dusk falls at Chemawa Indian School as a student sits on her phone outside the Veterans Powwow in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 8, 2025.
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Dean Armstrong, a Lakota tribal member who served in the Department of Defense, said powwows stand out from other Veterans Day celebrations because they’re all-day affairs and celebrate veterans, no matter the time of year.
“The parades are just like a quick little thing,” Armstrong said. “This type of situation goes on at all of the native powwows in Oregon, where they’re always honoring the veterans.”
Students at Chemawa organize the school’s powwow every year, from planning bake sales to deciding who the master of ceremonies will be.
Timothy Chino, from the Pueblo of Acoma Tribe, has been a student at Chemawa for three years and said the Veterans Powwow is one of the school’s biggest events. He helped with the bake sale, including making recipes and running the kitchen.
“The kids do help a lot,” Chino said. “Without us, it wouldn’t really run.”
Dozens participated in various dances in the school auditorium, while others waited in line for frybread and other Indigenous foods.
Chemawa has hosted the event for generations.
Dean Armstrong, a Lakota veteran of the Department of Defense, does a sneak up as part of the warrior dance at the Veterans Powwow at Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 8, 2025. His grandfather, one of many veterans in his family, was a prisoner of war.
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Ashley Tuomi, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, participated in the veterans royalty court as a child and represented her tribe at various events.
On Saturday, her son, Brendyn, was serving on the royalty court as the Grand Ronde Veterans Warrior, dancing in the Grand Entry with his grandfather, Ronald Tuomi.
“We really cherish our veterans and wanted to come out and support,” Ashley Tuomi said. “It’s just a longtime tradition.”
Schultz, who is a fourth-generation military veteran, said the day was spiritually fulfilling, seeing the entire community turn out to celebrate members of the military.
“I’m so proud to be a veteran, what I did for this country,” he said. “The honor is really high with me.”
