Lots of action with lacrosse (left) and a Punch and Judy show during Rendezvous Days Aug. 8-10.
Load up your canoe, your car, or whatever gets you to Grand Portage and prepare to embark on an historical adventure!
Aug. 8-10 marks the annual Rendezvous Days and Pow Wow at Grand Portage, when voyageur songs, Ojibwe drums, and Highland bagpipes mix a the Montreal canoe brigades, native peoples, fur traders, and North West Company partners gather for their rendezvous and traditional Ojibwe Pow Wow.
Join the staff at Grand Portage National Monument for this historical celebration. Music, historical demonstrations, and games of skill await. Watch and learn about traditional lacrosse and cheer on your favorite team in a live lacrosse match, listen to a music jam 18th century style on the front lawn of the Great Hall, and participate in workshops on 18th century toys, and Scottish music and haggis making. Learn about the daily lives of Ojibwe people, French voyageurs, and the European partners of the famed British North West Company.
Special activities at Rendezvous this year include 18th century puppet shows presented by professional puppeteer Wayne Krefting. Wayne is also a master in the art of puppetry, and he will feature his puppets in two shows this year.
Crowd favorites Punch and Judy will be back with new characters, and a new show featuring animal puppets, entitled Voyageur, will premier as well. Wayne recently was a puppeteer in Minnesota Lottery television spots featuring North Woods animal puppets along with baseball greats Bert Blyleven and Kent Hrbek. Wayne’s engaging shows are certain to delight audiences of all ages.
Also featured as part of the event will be the North Shore’s musical powerhouse, Over the Waterfall. Come dance and enjoy the music! While you’re here, visit an 18th century cobbler, tinsmith, and blacksmith.
Explore a reconstructed 1790s fur trade depot. Try your hand at making birchbark pop boxes, fire starting with flint and steel, and watch as the roughest men of the Old Northwest and the daintiest of ladies compete in a Voyageur pentathlon.
The event is open to the general public, with storytelling, a scavenger hunt, a bead hunt, and a cornhusk Voyageur/doll workshop especially for youngsters. National Monument rangers and costumed historical re-enactors help bring history alive in this fun-filled weekend event. This event is free and open to everyone.
For more information contact the national monument at (218) 475- 0123.
The nearby Ojibwe pow wow is hosted by the Grand Portage Band, and includes traditional food, music, craft stands, softball tournament, a turkey shoot, races, and much more. A full schedule of events is available on the pow wow grounds, or at the historic stockade.
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