Native Music Revisits New Port Richey: The Chasco Fiesta

The sweet, earthy smell of incense sweeps the dance circle, and the setting sun glints off the ceremonial headdresses worn by Aztec dancers. The feathers quiver and shake as the dancers step in beat to the pounding of a 250-year-old drum. If not for the 1970s-era rock music coming from a nearby amphitheater, you could convince yourself that you were participating in a ritual taking place hundreds-if not thousands of years ago.

Instead, it is 2023, and you are a spectator at the Native American Festival, part of the nine-day Chasco Fiesta held annually in Pasco County. Dancers and performers from tribes across North and Central America come and showcase their ancient skills, educating children and adults about the complexities of their cultures.

History of Chasco Fiesta

The first Chasco Fiesta was in 1922, a celebration of the incorporation of the new city and a fundraiser for the Avery Library. The early inception tried to create a narrative that drew upon the Native roots of the area but was fanciful and historically inaccurate: not to mention racist. 

The story was written by the local postmaster, Gerben De Vries, and centered on two Spanish children and a priest who are taken by the Calusa. Sounds like the setup to a joke, but instead, the two Spanish children win the affection of their captors and convert them all to Catholicism. Not only that, but because of their charm and grace, they are named Queen and Chief of the tribe and given the names Chaso and Pithla after the river, the Pithlachascotee.  

While De Vries wove his fanciful tale around the Calusa, the Timucua would have been the inhabitants any Europeans coming to Pasco county would have encountered. The story does mention middens and mounds, which have been found in New Port Richey. Most of them have been destroyed by developers, and their histories have been lost.

Over the years, reenactments of the same story were a part of the Chasco Fiesta, especially once it became an annual event in 1947. Different iterations of the same theme continued off and on for years until the 1990s when the Creek Confederacy became involved in the festival.

Today, the Native underpinning is celebrated through the ongoing Native American Festival that occurs as part of the Chasco Fiesta. Participants are exposed to Native culture through dance, music, and informational exhibits. Indigenous performers and artisans come from all over the United States and Canada to participate in the festival.

Native American Festival Today

After the 2022 Chasco Fiesta ended, I was able to interview the Master of Ceremonies for the Native American Festival, Lowery Begay.  

A performer, educator, and member of the Navajo Nation, Begay’s goal is to break stereotypes and misconceptions that people have about Native culture. 

“In today’s world or in our society...not just in America but overseas, a lot of people don’t understand fully about Native American culture,” claims Begay.

The Native American Festival that now runs concurrently with the Chasco Fiesta highlights performers and artists from tribes spread from Mexico to Canada. For Begay, this offers an opportunity to educate the public on how Native cultures can vary. 

“One of the most difficult things is when people say like, oh, you all live in teepees. Just because we are all Native doesn’t mean we all live in tepees.”

It is this oversimplification of Native culture that motivates Begay.

“People tend to put Native Americans in just one giant pot and forget the ingredients. It would be like us as Native people just blending together all of Europe and their traditions and their culture.”

For Begay, it is essential to bring awareness to the diversity of Native Cultures and expose people to authentic Native life: not just what is shown in Hollywood. Explaining the difference between the tribes represented and the nuances of their cultures was a focus for last year’s festival.

Attendees were mesmerized by the performances put on, the dancers in their regalia with their intricate steps, the musicians with their haunting songs. As the Master of Ceremonies, Begay explained the ritual behind the performance and the tribe it came out of, giving everyone a glimpse of the story behind the dance. 

This year, the festival will kick off on Friday, March 24th, and run until April 2nd. While the Native American Festival runs all nine days, there will be a showcase of the Native American performers on the main stage on March 27th at 7 pm.