The Phoenix Rising will be having Indigenous Peoples Night, a theme night celebrating the culture and uniqueness of the community and their tribes in Arizona, this Saturday, Sept 30.
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Join us for Indigenous Peoples Night Presented by @CircleKStores.#RisingAsOne
— Phoenix Rising FC (@PHXRisingFC) September 25, 2023
Being located close to the Gila River, Ak-Chin and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian reservations, the Rising look to acknowledge and host a fundraiser for those in their communities.
All together, Arizona has 22 recognized tribes at the federal level, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
Additionally, the United States Census Bureau estimated that over 300,000 Indigenous people live in Arizona, which makes up 5.2% of the states population.
Moreover, the Archaic and Desert cultures have been in Arizona, dating back from 10,000 years ago to 1 A.D., as stated by the Arizona Museum of Natural History.
With the rich history of Native Americans in the Arizona community, the Rising hope they can spread awareness of the indigenous peoples and their cultures while also achieving their goal by winning their game against Orange County SC.
The club stated on their website that they “plan to on identify and highlight a local indigenous artist to create an item to raise money for the locals.”
The game is crucial for both teams to win as the Rising are fourth place in the USL Western Conference while Orange Country trail in fifth.
As the Rising only have three games left in the regular season, four teams are separated by four points from third place to sixth in the conference.
Kick-off between the Rising and Orange County FC at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium at 7 p.m. Sept. 30.
Their last home game is on Oct. 7 against New Mexico United before wrapping up the regular season versus at Colorado Springs when they battle the Switchbacks on Oct. 14.
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Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him onhis new X account @CipolliniBCS
