Submitted by Angela Roberts
On Saturday, March 28, 2026, the newest Program Specialist for Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, Jake DeLaRosa (member of the Choctaw Nation), brought together many Central Valley Native Americans at the annual Powwow he has brought back and hosted for two years in a row now.
The gathering was named: Tradition is Our Medicine: Knowledge is Our Fire: Inter Tribal Honoring Our Ancestors. This powwow is put together along with the MJC SIERRA program and the Indigenous People Alliance Club, which offers local college students a safe space for resources and opportunities to engage with higher education in meaningful and culturally respectful ways. Natives agree that there is a need for more gathering and Native community spaces in the Central Valley area, where MJC is also located in the Northern part.
As Program Specialist, Jake has played a key role in building community for these powwows among many local Natives and groups from Oklahoma to the Sierra Nevada. This year, he also brought in Sacramento offices, including the California Rural Indian Health Board (CRIHB) and Sacramento State’s newest Ethnic Studies Department Native Program, giving students and the community of Modesto an even larger pool to find resources in for the future of their success.
Jake has also worked alongside the California Choctaws while creating and supporting opportunities for students to be a part of cultural preservation and connection in honoring our ancestors. He received an award from the County Board of Supervisors in honor of the work he and the SIERRA club have done for the greater community in holding this annual powwow, and he currently serves as the Advisor for the Indigenous People’s Alliance club, as a Council Member for the United Tribes of California (UTOC) and is also a Central Valley A.I.M. Gourd dancer. We want to acknowledge and thank one more proud Choctaw in California for keeping our culture alive across the Turtle Island diaspora, and for supporting Native people and giving many Natives in the Central Valley of California a space of community and belonging to come to. Our Choctaw spirit is loud all the way over in California, where many Choctaw continue to reside today.
When requesting a comment from Jake following this year’s powwow, he said, “The annual Modesto Junior College Powwow is far more than a social gathering; it is a powerful declaration of sovereignty and a vibrant testament to the resilient strength of our Indigenous culture. It serves as a sacred space where the community reunites to reinforce ancestral bonds, turning collective heritage into a source of modern empowerment. In every dance and every drumbeat, there is a shared commitment to self-determination and the beautiful, resilient future of our people. Aho!”