Photo essay: SFIS students celebrate school’s Feast Day

Traditional songs mix with the smell of blue corn muffins and Pueblo red chile enchiladas on Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Danielle Prokop

Source NM

Wednesday, Oct 11, 2023 11:33 AM MT

A dance group with Elvia Sanchez perform the Hopi Butterfly Dance, at the Santa Fe Indian School Feast Day on Monday. Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM

The Santa Fe Indian School Feast Day is a moment of celebration and prayers, said superintendent Christie Abeyta.

“As the years progressed, the dancers increased, and the visitors increased, vendors became part of the day,” Abeyta (Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Ohkay Owingeh and Isleta) said in opening remarks about the feast day’s history.

Attendees thronged the thoroughfare to the school’s plaza, meandering through vendors and school groups.

Students posted up on the library and the humanities building, all the better to see the foot races and dances below.

The smells of blue corn muffins and red chile enchiladas wafted across the air.

SFIS is owned and operated by the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico. Just under 700 students from the 19 Pueblos, Navajo and Apache nations, and other Southwest tribes attend the campus, located in Santa Fe.

Watch the entire SFIS Feast Day 2023 livestream at https://youtu.be/-DV2lFDZB3Y