The first annual Festival of Native American Culture will be held from June 5 through 13, 2009 in Sedona, Arizona.
The Festival is designed to encourage a greater understanding of our land's indigenous peoples, and to preserve their cultural heritage in the Verde Valley.
The Festival, in association with the Sedona International Film Festival, begins with a Native American Film Festival featuring documentaries, fiction and music videos by Native American filmmakers. The Yavapai-Apache Nation will be showing videos from their digital storytelling project before each featured film. A unique Dinner Theatre experience will feature dinner and films in the Grand Ballroom of the Radisson Poco Diablo Resort on June 6, with an opportunity to meet some of the filmmakers. The film festival will also include a day of Latin American films by indigenous people of Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia. The Native American Producers Alliance will end the film festival on June 9 with a panel discussion and media screenings.
A Native American Invitational Art Show will be held on June 6 and 7 at the Tequa Plaza in the Village of Oak Creek. This invitational show will feature Native American artists with Southwestern tribal affiliations whose marks are on record with the Arizona State Museum. This will ensure attendees of high quality and authentic Native American works of art. Native American art will also be shown and demonstrated during the entire Festival at participating galleries and shops.
Native American Cultural Awareness Week, beginning June 8, will be filled with special archaeology tours, cultural discussions, entertainment, art events and exhibits. The Yavapai-Apache Nation will unveil a special exhibition developed for the Festival entitled ?Honoring Woman?s Work: Traditional Camp Dresses of Yavapai and Apache Women. The Festival will also be host to the first Conference on Archaeoastronomy of the American Southwest at the Lodge at Cliff Castle in Camp Verde. This conference will offer workshops for professional and avocational archaeoastronomers, an awards banquet and a full-day of presentations on the astronomical practices of the prehistoric Native American cultures of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
The Festival will end with a Celebration of Native American Music and Dance that will include a full-day of free music and dance events on June 13 throughout the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village in Sedona.

A detailed guide to all events and workshops is available on the official website of the Festival.