It's been five years since the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside has lit up with bright and colorful Native American regalia moving to the beats of bells and drums.
"We've been a part of the pow wow community for so long — for 23 years — and then COVID happened," said Mel Vernon, the captain of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians.
But the pow wow is back this weekend, and despite being on a COVID-19 hiatus since the 2019 event, the tribe is calling it the 24th Annual San Luis Rey Intertribal Pow Wow.
Intertribal means all tribes and dancers in the area are welcome.
"You're going to see dancers that are coming maybe for the first or second time dancing as a youth. And you're going to see some dancers that have been dancing for quite a while. So it's a combining of the elders and the youth," Vernon said.
He said pow wows happen all throughout the year and around the country. Their return is plugging his tribe back into the pow wow circuit.
"It brings us together as the native people of this local area. So it's a time for us to have community, share, and catch up with each other again, And just show a welcoming spirit to what we're doing," Vernon said. "That's really what it's all about."
While the mission grounds are lined with Franciscan history, Vernon said the pow wow highlights the important role Native Americans played in the mission's inception.
"It gives us a chance to actually plug into the present and not necessarily focus on the past ... because we're here to accept what's happened — in a certain way — but we're projecting towards the future and make it positive for everybody, for their tribes, the people, and the mission — as we're a part of it," Vernon said.
Gwyn Grimes, the executive director of the mission, said the property has undergone some changes.
Parking for the pow wow will look different because the space has been leased by the mission to a new senior living community.
The Hacienda Mission San Luis Rey is leasing the land from the mission for the next 100 years. It will offer 213 units made up of independent living, assisted living and memory care for seniors. But Grimes said they will continue to work with the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians to keep their history present and celebrated.
"Our relationship with the tribe continues to grow. It's a really important relationship for us, and we think for them as well," Grimes said. "And so we want to just always be able to support each other. And so we open up the mission grounds to the pow wow."
Traditional food and arts and crafts will be on sale to the public.
Festivities will run Saturday from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
