Tiburon resident Eddie Madril will be featured at a free celebration of Native American culture and heritage at Zelinsky Park on Sunday, Oct. 11.

The event, co-organized by the Town of Tiburon's Heritage & Arts Commission and Diversity Inclusion Task Force, runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the park between Town Hall and the Belvedere-Tiburon Library. It falls the day before Indigenous Peoples Day and marks the town's second such celebration, following an inaugural event Aug. 17, 2025.

Madril, a member of the Pascua Yaqui tribe of Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora, Mexico, is an assistant professor in San Francisco State University's American Indian studies department and the founder of Sewam American Indian Dance. He once envisioned a career in architecture, studying calculus and physics and picturing himself on the 40th floor of a high-rise.

He took a different path. Madril told The Ark his cultural expertise grew not from scholarly research but from more than 45 years of lived experience in the Native American community, sitting in rooms where customs, traditions, ceremonies, art and dance were discussed.

Sewam American Indian Dance, founded in 2011, performed in 2025 at the 51st Festival of World Cultures in Gannat, France, a UNESCO-partnered event. The U.S. Embassy also invited the group to New Zealand as cultural ambassadors.

Madril's daughter Ellie Madril will perform at the Oct. 11 event alongside co-director Sara Moncada. Moncada serves as Director of Native Ecology with the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone and is an adjunct professor at San Francisco State. She began presenting Native American culture and dance with Madril in 2008 and formally joined Sewam in 2012.

Speaking to the Press Democrat in May ahead of a Sewam performance in Napa, Madril described the group's mission as cultural exchange. "We're a diverse world. And it's really important in a diverse world for us to have spaces where we get to know each other in meaningful ways," he said.

Attendees can expect storytelling, dance, music, art and hands-on activities honoring the traditions of Native peoples in the Bay Area, according to the event listing on Eventbrite. Indigenous-style food will be available for sale from Dramatic Events Marin's food truck.

Madril, who hosts KPFA Radio's monthly Bay Native Circle program, was recognized by KQED in November 2011 as an American Indian Bay Area Local Hero. He was twice nominated for Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and holds a master's degree in American Indian studies from San Francisco State. He is pursuing a doctorate at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

Zelinsky Park is at 1505 Tiburon Blvd. Free parking is available behind the library and on the street. The parking lot next to Town Hall is a paid lot.