Night of the Native American was hosted at the 78th annual Cavalcade Rodeo on July 19.
Night of the Native American is hosted to recognize tribes across Oklahoma because of how involved the tribes are within the rodeo industry.
Citizens from tribes across Oklahoma were invited to dance around the drum during the opening performance. Powwow, tribal and JOM princesses from many tribes including Osage, Kaw, Choctaw and Delaware dressed in traditional clothing and performed the Lord’s prayer in sign language. Many of the Osage dancers and horseback riders were from the Grayhorse District.
During the grand entrance, Pawnee singers were invited to sing. A small dance occurred after the first few rounds of rodeo events were finished.
2023 Kihekah Steh Princess, Lilly Harris, and younger brother Titan, were two of the representatives for the Osage Nation during the performance.
“I feel very good to be an Osage,” Harris said. “It makes me feel proud. I’m proud to show everybody my culture, and it’s just a good day to be an Indian.”
Osage tribal member, Taos Barrone, has been dancing at Night of the Native American for four years. He was the flag bearer on horseback during the entrance.
“I feel proud to be able to show my culture to everybody,” Barrone said. “Real proud. Humbling.”


The importance of Native American culture, especially Osage, being showcased at Cavalcade is important because the rodeo is held within the Osage reservation.
“Osages are all around here, that’s what it’s about,” said one of the Osage riders, Michael Bennett. “It’s Osage country. We were brought here, we’re still thriving, and we get to show what we’re all about, show a little bit of our culture. It’s amazing, I love doing it.”
Night of the Native American was started in 2020. Cavalcade board member, Alexis Howell, organized the event this year.
“That arena is pretty historic,” Howell said. “We’re in Osage County and that’s the Osage County Fairgrounds. We try to make a tribute night each night of the rodeo. We have Night of the Native American, Night of the Patriot. We have cowboys, we have Natives. We try to recognize all of the different aspects that make our rodeo what it is.”
Many of the rodeo participants and several of the board members, including Howell, are Osage.
Night of the Native American would not be able to happen without the dancers and riders willing to participate, and also the hard work from board members that want attendees to see the vivid culture of Osage County.
“We have really been thankful for the participation of our local Natives,” she said. “Whether they’re Osage and they come in and they ride and they carry flags, or they come and they dance, or however they’re included. Russ Mashunkashey has been an excellent helper in all of this, as has Eusty Barbee.”
Jeff Bute, head chairman of the Cavalcade rodeo said it takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure Night of the Native American can happen.
“It was a pretty collaborative effort,” Bute said. “Alexis Howell reached out to quite a few of the contacts she has through the Osage tribe, and as well as a number of princesses. Kojack Holloway, who serves as our Cavalcade arena director, was very instrumental in putting together the format of it. Russ Mashunkashey was a huge help in bringing together the drums, as well as emceeing the event, and getting the word out to a lot of the participants.”


Bute would like to see more participants riding and dancing for Night of the Native American in the future.
“We would really like to grow the riders portion of that also,” he said “just to showcase the horse culture that was key early on and was part of the Osage culture. We’d love to grow that, anybody that’s interested in riding as part of that, we would really be interested in.”
Anyone who is interested in participating in Night of the Native American for the 2025 Cavalcade rodeo can reach out to Alexis Howell, at am.whitehorn.howell@gmail.com.