Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, raps on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)
Two star Indigenous performers took the stage at the Riverfront Park Amphitheater on Saturday, June 28, to close out the first day of Salem’s World Beat Festival.
Acosia Red Elk, a world champion jingle dress dancer from the Umatilla Tribe, and Supaman, an Apsáalooke rapper and fancy dancer, brought a high-energy performance.
The festival’s 2025 theme is “Turtle Island: People of the Land” in honor of Warner Austin, an Eastern Cherokee leader who founded the festival’s social powwow.
Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, and Acosia Red Elk on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Acosia Red Elk dancing the jingle dress dance on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Acosia Red Elk dancing the jingle dress dance on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Acosia Red Elk dancing the jingle dress dance on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, poses for a photo before his performance at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, fancy dances on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, and Acosia Red Elk on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, raps on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, interacts with audience members on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Supaman, aka Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, on stage at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Acosia Red Elk with her daughter Dani Leighton at the World Beat Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)
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Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.
