Members of the White Mountain Apache Nation and guests from other tribes and organizations gathered on Labor Day weekend for a celebration of culture in the capital of the Apache reservation: the town of Whiteriver, Arizona.

Cecilia Ayalá and a group of family and tribe members came to the celebration for the weekend, They form a dance group called Iztac Cuauhtli, which translates to White Eagle in the indigenous language Nahuatl.

The Fort Apache Indian Reservation, which encompasses parts of Navajo, Gila and Apache counties, is home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The White Mountain Apache tribal fair, rodeo and carnival celebrated its 93rd anniversary in 2018.

Celia Ayalá, who is part of the Iztac Cuauhtli dance group, laughs with her family as they prepare for their performance after the 93rd Annual White Mountain Apache Tribal Fair and Rodeo in Whiteriver, Ariz. on Sept. 1, 2018. Ayalá and her family come from the tribe Purépecha, which is centered in the Mexican state of Michoacán.

A competitor in the all-women’s rodeo rides out of the ring after participating in team roping. The women competed in steer riding, barrel racing, team roping, calf dressing and tie down roping for a variety of prizes, including various sums of money, saddles, buckles and a horse trailer. The overall title was taken by 13-year-old Jocelyn Co’Nei’Sen’Ney.

Aureli Zabala, 10, faces the horse pens from the rodeo as she stands in the preparation area.

Emilius Lupe, left, slides off the bundles of hay that he and Heber Robbs were forking into an animal pen.

Five-year-old Damien John watches as Jenae Jackson washes her horse. Jackson had just finished her turn in team roping with her partner, Debbie Robins, in all-women’s rodeo.Although the rodeo functioned as a competition and cash prizes were awarded, the atmosphere remained relaxed, with children running behind the scenes and some spectators standing on the top of trailers for a better view.

Diego Reyes holds still while his mother prepares him for the traditional performance after the 93rd Annual White Mountain Apache Tribal Fair and Rodeo in Whiteriver, Ariz. on Sept. 1, 2018.

Aureli Zabala, 10, and Caleb Ayalá, 4, peer out of a family van as more children are called together to dress for the performance.

A dance group from the University of Arizona Tohono O’odham student association stands behind a barrier fence as they wait — and occasionally practice dances — while the rodeo finishes up. The group drove up from Tucson, a trip that lasts roughly four hours. The group includes members of any tribe, not just Tohono O’odham (whose reservation exists on the U.S.-Mexico border). The group, which says they are the only such mixed group, includes students who are Zuni, Hopi, Navajo, Kiowa, Paiute, Gila River Pima, among a few others.

Cecilia Ayalá, who came with her children and husband, puts on eyeliner in the car’s small mirror after helping her children put on their regalia. The family is Purépecha, a tribe that originated in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They performed at the Apache White Mountain Tribal Fair and Rodeo on Sept. 1, 2018, under the name Iztac Cuauhtli, which means White Eagle in the Nahuatl language.

The Iztac Cuauhtli group, right, gathers around one of their vans as they don their regalia and complete makeup, face paint and eyeliner. Many of the dance group members are Purépecha, a tribe from the Michoacán state in the south of Mexico.The group that made the drive to Whiteriver on Labor Day weekend included several families and many young children under the age of 10 who are still learning the traditional dances and drums.

The crowd fills the stands of the arena as various groups of dancers file into the arena.

Whiteriver is the largest community on the reservation and has a population of about 12,500. There are 21 federally-recognized tribes and 22 sovereign communities in Arizona. In addition to the White Mountain Apache Tribe and Tohono O’odham Nation, other major tribes include the Chemehuevi, Dilzhe’e Apache, Cocopa, Havasupai, Maricopa, Hopi, Chiricahua, Mohave, Navajo, Paiute, Quechan, San Carlos Apache, Akimel O’odham, Xalychidom and Tewa. Put together, these lands cover about a quarter of the state. Some of the tribes that visited the tribal fair and rodeo on Sept. 1 were not even native to Arizona, such as the Purépecha tribe that is originally from Mexico.

Anya Magnuson

Anya Magnuson

Private Page