JAUNTS : Ojai Powwow to Include Tribal Arts, Traditions : The gathering at Lake Casitas will draw Native Americans from across the Southwest. A dance competition is among the events.

The Lake Casitas Intertribal Powwow is coming back to Ojai this weekend, offering spectators a chance to watch traditional Indian dancing, sample a buffalo burger and maybe purchase some art or jewelry.

This will be the fifth year for the powwow, which drew about 13,000 people last year to the shore of Lake Casitas. Featuring an authentic tepee village, the powwow will run Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to dusk.

The powwow attracts Indians from all over the Southwest. Organizer Dick Wixon expects about 50 different tribes to be represented, along with more than 200 dancers in full regalia competing for $10,000 in prize money.

It’s also a chance for local Native Americans to come together, too. Beverly Folkes of Thousand Oaks and her brother, Abel Salazar of Sylmar, can trace their ancestry back to the Chumash village of Tapo in Simi Valley. Their grandfather was the last Indian to live at the San Fernando Mission, and another relative once held the land grant for 4,460 acres in what is now Encino, they say.

“We’re very proud of that,” said Folkes, who serves on the powwow staff. “Indians have been portrayed as dumb, but they were smart people in how they conducted their business and how they did things.”

If the powwow helps carry on the Indian culture, it also helps build kinship among the various tribes, she says.

During the powwow, her brother will serve as flag bearer, a position traditionally given to a respected elder and veteran. The tradition goes back to the time when the warrior was highly regarded in American Indian society, Wixon says.

Serving as the powwow princess this year is Shamaray Yazzie, 12, of Simi Valley. She and her brother, Lydall, 13, and sister, Raetava, 6, have been dancing competitively for three years, traveling the powwow circuit in the West most weekends.

Their father, Rick Yazzie, also a dancer, started picking up the dances when he was 5 and living on a Navaho reservation in Arizona. Their mother, Rena Yazzie, also a Navaho, makes their beaded regalia.

Last year, about 325 dancers signed up for the competitions, which run both days. The finals are Sunday afternoon for the various categories.

Throughout the weekend, gunfighters will stage wild shootouts that are built around silly skits. Costumed “mountain men” will set up camp in the tepee village, showing visitors how the men lived during pioneer days. They will be tanning hides or maybe making barrels. One group will be painting a tepee in the style of that era.

The powwow is a chance to taste some native dishes, such as fry bread, corn soup and barbecued buffalo meat. No alcohol will be allowed on the premises during the event, and ice chests will be searched, Wixon says.

Vendors will be selling Indian merchandise, such as turquoise jewelry, beadwork, pottery, belts, hats, clothing and artifacts.

Some of the proceeds from the powwow will be used to pay for Native American scholarships and educational opportunities in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Visitors who bring a canned food item will be given $1 off admission. The food will be donated to needy families through the county-based Candelaria American Indian Council.

Details

* WHAT: Lake Casitas Intertribal Powwow.

* WHEN: 10 a.m. to dusk Saturday and Sunday.

* WHERE: Lake Casitas, off California 150 in Ojai.

* HOW MUCH: $6 (adults), $4 (senior citizens and children 3-12), free for kids under 3; parking is $2.

* CALL: 649-2233.