Apache Jii Turned 43 in a Windstorm, and Globe Showed Up Anyway

Globe has been saying thank you to its Apache neighbors since 1984. On Saturday, October 17, it said it for the 43rd time, on the grass at Harbison Field, the Globe High School football field. The wind did everything it could to stop the party. It lost.

"Jii" means day in Apache, and it's pronounced like the letter G. The festival began in 1984 as a cultural exchange and a thank-you from Globe to the San Carlos Apache Nation, whose land borders the city to the east. Local stores held special sales that day to honor their neighbors. Over four decades it opened up to tribes from across the country.

It has never stopped being about the people it was built for. Every vendor, performer and speaker is an enrolled tribal member. The Globe-Miami Regional Chamber of Commerce, which runs the festival, priced this year's booths at $50 for San Carlos Apache neighbors and $100 for other recognized tribes. It's a small detail, and it says everything about who the day is for.

For most of its life, Apache Jii filled Broad Street in historic downtown Globe. Then came the 2025 flood. The Chamber moved the festival to Harbison Field that year, days before it was due to start, and the crowd followed as if nothing had changed.

This year the Chamber made it permanent. Organizers said the field is safer, and it gives the festival room to grow: more than 80 vendors set up this year, far more than downtown could ever hold.

The booths ran the length of the field: turquoise and silver jewelry, beadwork, aprons, paintings, all of it made by the people selling it. A whole aisle went to food: fry bread with every fixing you can imagine, and acorn stew. Plenty of people came in camp dresses and spent the afternoon wandering the stalls.

It was a brutal wind day. A wind advisory cancelled the farmers market scheduled the same morning. According to the Arizona Silver Belt, gusts were strong enough that vendors pulled the canopies off their tents to keep them from blowing away, and the wind tore feathers from some dancers' regalia.

The crowd was thinner than usual, and parking was easier than anyone in Globe can remember. It didn't matter. Hundreds of people were on that field at any hour of the day. Apache Jii doesn't cancel for weather.

The Yellow Bird Hoop Dancers, a nationally known troupe, drew people out of the bleachers and onto the grass to get closer. Performers came from as far as the Dakotas. There was crown dancing, hoop dancing, warrior dances and flute music, and the announcers explained what each regalia detail and each pose meant, so the crowd understood it was watching tradition, not a show.

A fashion show featured work by Joanne Miles-Long and Sweet Hill, modern designs built on Apache and Navajo tradition. And Apache Skateboards, the brand that started in San Carlos and now sells in national chains, put on its crowd-favorite skate demonstration.

One announcer summed up why the day matters, telling the crowd, as the Silver Belt reported, "Too many times we only gather in times of sadness." For one Saturday a year, Globe and San Carlos gather for joy.

Globe Unified School District opened its field through a board-approved facilities request from the Chamber.

The Chamber asked the city for two Globe Police Department officers. Both came, and both worked the day at no charge to the Chamber. Two officers gave up a Saturday so families could eat fry bread and watch the dancers in peace. Consider this the thank-you note.

And then the volunteers, who have carried this festival for four decades. People from Globe and Miami set up tables, staff booths, haul trash and break it all down at the end of the day, every October, because they love this town. Executive Director Angel Ruiz and the Chamber pulled off the 43rd in a windstorm.

Apache Jii lands on the third Saturday in October, about 90 minutes east of Phoenix on U.S. 60. Next year is the 44th. Go hungry, bring cash for the artists, and stay for the dancers.

This story draws on the Globe-Miami Regional Chamber of Commerce's written statement and published event and vendor information, Globe Unified School District's records on the field use, and the Arizona Silver Belt's on-the-ground coverage of this year's festival, which we credit where we rely on it. We did not attend this year's event. Vendor counts come from the Chamber's figures as reported by the Silver Belt. We contacted the Chamber and Globe Unified. We are looking for photos and stories from people who were at Apache Jii, especially vendors, dancers and longtime volunteers. Tips: [email protected].