IAMNDN Crowns Lulu Tahdooahnippah at Powwow

On Saturday, May 23, IAMNDN honored high school graduates and crowned a new princess at their powwow at Watchetaker Hall.

Students included Hannah Owens, Malachi Large, Modesto Schonchin, Elias Saupitty and Antonio Negron.

Lulu Tahdooahnippah said she was honored to be crowned and receive the title of IAMNDN princess.

“My friends are the ones who kind of put me out there, and they were like, ‘I think you'd be really good like a princess,’ and they're like, 'We need IAMNDN princess.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ Out of the blue, you know, I'm just like, ‘Yeah,’” she said. “But I was really honored, like, I'm really happy that I'm here, and it's kind of like a new journey. But it's also like I'm coming back to where I'm from.”

Tahdooahnippah said she was excited and looks forward to powwows and UNITY.

“UNITY is probably going to be my most liked…because we're going with all of our youth council and so it'll be really fun,” she said.

Tahdooahnippah wants to be a good role model and said honoring the youth is setting a future example.

“[These are] the people who are going to be running our tribe, and you know, the little kids now are going to be like us now,” she said. “So, it's kind of exciting, and you just want them like following in your footsteps.”

Tahdooahnippah said it’s important for the teenagers to begin running powwows.

“You know, we have a lot of our kids, and I mean teenagers, we have a lot of them running the powwow, and it's like very exciting,” she said. “Because I mean, they're the ones who know how to do everything, and I think it's really special because it's kind of like they're being able to take on such a big power, and they're doing amazing.”

Tahdooahnippah was grateful for everyone who helped her get into regalia and danced with her.