NORTH WEBSTER - The Senior Primelife Enrichment Center will host a festival to celebrate the Native American cultures of the Northern Lakes Region Sept. 22.
Coordinator Kellie Gillenwater said the Northern Lakes Traditional Pow Wow is planned to be an annual event, featuring the food, singing, dancing, storytelling and crafts of tribes native to this area.
Gillenwater said education is a big part of the pow wow. "The pow wow is about teaching people," she said.
Gillenwater said she is working with local elementary schools to provide free passes to fourth-graders who study the Native Americans of Indiana.
Some activities for the pow wow include an arrowhead dig, demonstrations from an archery instructor and Native American beading. As many as 200 Native Americans from tribes including Miami, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Syracuse and Black Foot are expected to attend the event.
Storyteller and dollmaker Mary Masters, Shipshewana, is scheduled to attend the pow wow and tell stories.
The pow wow will be held at the Mermaid Festival Grounds. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors 55 years and older. Children 3 and under will be admitted free.
For more information, call Gillenwater, 574-834-4895 or the SPEC, 574-834-1600, Ext. 4.
