The 21st Anniversary Woodland Indian Celebration, “They Walked Here Before Us” will take place the weekend of Sept. 23 and Sept. 24, at The Seven Eagles Historical EARTH Center on 16486 Wapakoneta Road in Grand Rapids, OH.
The gates will open at 10 am both days. The celebration will end at dusk on Saturday and at 5 pm on Sunday. The cost for admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors 60 and over, $2 for children ages 5 to 11, and children 4 and under are free.
The event is to celebrate the Harvest Festival of the Eastern Woodland American Indians of the North East and Great Lakes, which include numerous tribes including well known tribes such as Apalachee, Cherokee and Shawnee.
The weekend’s festivities are a celebration of Native American Culture and will include learning about the history of the Eastern Woodland American Indians, doing various arts and crafts, eating food, playing games and dancing to music.
The drums will be played by Gray Cloud Singers of Pennsylvania, Southern Signers of Ohio and Southern Eastern WaterSpider of Ohio. The event will also feature multiple award winning Native American flutist Douglas Blue Feather of the Cherokee tribe in Springboro, Ohio.
The event has been described as one of the ‘top events’ of Ohio by The Ohio Arts Council and The Ohio Humanities Council. Cincinnati Magazine has listed the event as one of the “Top 20 Great Escapes: Weekends Worth Having in the State of Ohio.”
The celebration is thrown by the Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Native American Organization. The foundation was established to raise awareness of the Native American population in Northwest Ohio and beyond, as well as provide education and historical programs to the community.
For more information on the event or on the Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation, visit https://www.blackswampintertribalfoundation.org.
