ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Gathering of Nations returns to Expo New Mexico for its final year after more than four decades. Vendors say the event marks the end of an era but still brings drumming, dancing and traditions from tribes across North America.

The powwow opens Friday and will fill the fairgrounds with music and ceremony. People from many tribes come to share culture and food. For long-time vendors, the gathering is a place to reconnect and to celebrate identity.

One vendor, Johanna Sanchez Zeller, said she grew up going to the Native village at the state fairgrounds with her parents before her family began sharing fry bread and Native tacos at Gathering of Nations. “I think it’s to celebrate who we are,” Sanchez Zeller.

Sanchez Zeller was born and raised in New Mexico but now lives in St. Louis. She came back to help her brother with his business, Sanchez Famous Fry Bread. She and other vendors see the powwow as a rare chance to reach large crowds.

Another vendor, Dora Platero, said this year marks her first time selling at Gathering of Nations. Platero owns Platero Frybread with her two daughters and called it a small Native women-owned business. “Just seeing everybody here. I mean, this is a family. We’re all a family,” Platero said. “This is something, like I said, everybody looks forward to.”

Platero said the end of this powwow does not mean Native communities will stop sharing culture, traditions and food. “Grandmothers and parents are going to continue to teach our children what’s important,” Platero said. She added that small minority-owned businesses do not always get this kind of exposure and hopes something new will fill the gap left by the powwow.