Hello everyone! Aaron Tsosie here, the guy behind the camera!
I was so excited for this trip! I used my YouTube income from November to fund the entire trip. The flight from Phoenix was about four hours, with a two-hour time difference. To keep things light, I upgraded my camera setup so everything could fit into a TSA-approved backpack—one-bag travel! My backpack was 35 lbs—heavy, but manageable for short distances.
The Seminole Pow Wow had been on hiatus for a few years, and this was its big return! There were a ton of events planned, but the pow wow itself was only Friday and Saturday. Entry was free, and while parking was too, I took a Lyft to the casino’s drop-off area since I was staying at a Motel 6 in Dania Beach to stay within budget. Finding the pow wow inside the casino was a bit confusing, but once I saw all the ribbon skirts, I knew I was going the right way 😋
This pow wow was massive—close to 900 registered dancers and 12 invited drum groups! As soon as I arrived, I headed straight to registration to get my media pass.
Even though I experience pow wows through my camera, I always remember them by how I feel—and this one had nothing but good vibes! The crowd was engaged, and the MCs kept the energy high with plenty of laughs. The only small thing I noticed was the time between performances—MCs had to wait for a signal from the arena director, who was coordinating with judges and drum groups before the next song. With so many people around the drums, it took some time to clear space, but that’s just how big pow wows go sometimes!
Honestly, very few complaints from me about this pow wow:
✅ Free entry, free parking, free water
✅ Good, clean bathrooms (plenty of them!)
❌ EXPENSIVE EVERYTHING
Hotels: I checked prices back in November, and rooms at the casino were starting at $350 a night 😅
Food: The casino’s restaurants started at $10 per meal, and even outside at the food vendors, prices were steep:
Frybread: $6 (actually only decently priced thing here)
Domestic beer: $10 per bottle
Walking taco (frybread ball cut in half, filled with beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes): $10
Brisket frybread sandwich: $14 (small frybread ball, not impressed, still hungry)
Gambling: In Phoenix, roulette minimum bets start at $1—here, it was $5 😭
Luckily, I packed trail mix and beef jerky to hold me over between meals!
Since this was out of state, I didn’t know too many people at first, but I was relieved when familiar faces from Phoenix started popping up! Seeing Cozad and Sharpshooter on the drum was awesome, and of course, shoutout to Tillie, our brownie lady! She’s always selling brownies at pow wows for $5, and I never pass up the chance to support her. If you listen closely after Bad Eagle’s intertribal song, you’ll hear the MCs mention they got one of her Rice Krispies 🤣
One of the most impressive moments for me was watching the Smoke Dancers. Their songs were short but powerful, and the dancers floated across the floor while keeping in step with the fast beat. I loved the way they posed at the end of each song! That was such a treat to see, and now I want to learn more about the history of Smoke Dance.
This is Day 1 of a 2-day pow wow! I’ll have Saturday’s footage up soon, and I’ll be dropping highlight videos all week. I’m doubling down on YouTube, and I’m hoping to hit 10,000 subscribers before Cinco de Mayo! Here’s to hard work—wish me luck! More videos to come, and be sure to follow me on Instagram for all the photos 📸