Richmond powwow honors Laguna and Acoma Pueblo families who built the Santa Fe Railroad

Flag bearers entered Richmond Auditorium carrying an eagle staff adorned with feathers, marking the start of Grand Entry at the 15th Annual Richmond Powwow on Saturday. Behind them, dancers followed as All Nations, one of the oldest drum groups in the Bay Area, sang a flag song that filled the space.

Under the theme, “Richmond Santa Fe Indian Village,” the powwow honored Laguna and Acoma Pueblo families who came from New Mexico in the 1920s to work on the Santa Fe Railroad. Pueblo speakers described their families’ move west as part of a “handshake agreement” made when the railroad sought to build through Laguna and Acoma territory in the late 1880s. 

Adrian Whitecloud, who is Laguna Pueblo, was born in 1960 in his family’s boxcar in Barstow. He often traveled to visit relatives in Richmond, where tribal members lived in converted boxcars and duplexes near the west end of Macdonald Avenue. 

“There were about 100 people or so from our Pueblos that accepted and came out at the same time,” Whitecloud said.

In exchange for allowing the line to pass directly through their territory, Laguna and Acoma tribal members were promised jobs, housing, running water and train passes to travel. The passes helped families stay connected. Whitecloud remembers riding all night at least four times a year, picking up tribal members in Needles, California; Winslow, Arizona; and Gallup, New Mexico, at each stop. 

 “The whole family could get on the train if there was room,” Whitecloud said. 

He noted that during Pueblo feast or ceremonial days, the train would be crowded and families would have to line up early to make the long train ride home.

Though this history is known within some local Native circles, it remains largely absent from Richmond’s public record. The city’s website includes information about the railroad and early industrial development but makes no mention of the Pueblo families who helped build and maintain it.

Some archival sources, including oral histories housed at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, later referred to these Pueblo communities as “boxcar villages.” But Pueblo families at the event referred to them as their villages.

“We’re a proud people and we’re still here,” said Whitecloud, whose intergenerational, family-led drum group, the Whitecloud Singers, was one of five groups at the powwow.

Powwow princess

Between contest and exhibition dances, a winner-take-all hand drum competition drew eight singers who signed up that day to compete for a $150 prize. In hand drum contests, singers enter with individual songs and use a single-sided handheld drum, competing before judges — often head dancers or powwow committee members — for the top prize. Michael Bellinger, who is Kickapoo, Sac and Fox as well as Anishinaabe, won the contest.

About 15 different vendors and organizations filled the auditorium’s lobby, selling jewelry, beadwork and art. The Alameda County Library distributed more than 300 free books by Indigenous authors.

Inside the arena, people cheered on two dancers vying for the title of 2025–2026 Richmond Powwow Princess, a youth ambassador role. Contestants were judged on knowledge of this year’s theme, public speaking and dance. Donning bright pink and purple regalia for the fancy shawl category, seventh grader Elizabeth Madril of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe was crowned Powwow Princess.

“At my school, we don’t have Native American Heritage Month or dive deep into it, so representing it and showing it to my peers is nice,” Elizabeth said. 

Elizabeth, who is from Marin County, recently completed a yearlong reign as the Stockton Labor Day Powwow Princess. She has been powwow dancing since she was a toddler and has competed in traditional, jingle dress and fancy shawl dance styles. 

“Even though it’s an intertribal circle, these opportunities have brought her deeper into her Yaqui culture,” said Elizabeth’s mother, Sara Moncada. 

Outgoing princess Caliana Gonzales said she hopes the role inspires young people to get involved. Gonzales started a Native American club at her high school in Stockton, and said being Richmond’s Powwow Princess helped her feel more connected to her culture.

“I never really felt like I was included, but this community and the Richmond powwow made me feel that way,” Gonzales said. 

For many families, the Richmond Powwow is a reunion and a remembrance, a chance to honor local Native histories.

Emcee Eddie Madril, Elizabeth’s father, addressed the Laguna and Acoma Pueblo families during one of the day’s intertribal dances with a simple message: “Welcome home.”

(Top photo: Adrian Whitecloud, with his back to the camera, leads his family drum group, Whitecloud Singers.)

This story was updated to correct the spelling of Sara Moncada’s last name.

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