After the Saturday Grand Entry and dedication to Grand Portage veterans took place, and a prayer and smoke released to bless the four winds, dancers dressed in their finest regalia filled the circle as various drums from tribes in Canada and Minnesota and singers led the music. It was very hot, and dancers couldn’t get into the circle as often as they normally would have on a cooler day, but it was an incredible sight to witness. See more on the Pow Wow and Rendezvous Days on pages A11 and B5. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
It was another fantastic Rendezvous Days weekend at Grand Portage National Monument’s annual featured event, with 145 historic re-enactor camps on-site with approximately 300 re-enactors from all over the United States, Ontario, and Manitoba sharing their passion for history of the fur trade era. Over 4,500 visitors attended the event over a very warm weekend. Here are a few of our favorite moments from the weekend.
We’ve been fortunate through the years to host a large number of re-enactors attending the event with their young children (and grandchildren), so we opted to focus the theme of the event this year on “Children in the Fur Trade.” As a result, there was no shortage of activities for the young (and the young at heart) to engage in.
Master puppeteer and re-enactor Wayne Krefting brought back his famous Punch and Judy show which kept the audience laughing throughout the performance on Friday. Matt Roy and Dave Bates, two voyageur re-enactors from northern Ontario who have paddled large sections of the old fur trade routes, interwove their knowledge and experience into exciting tales for the young audience members on Saturday morning, and noted storyteller Rose Arrowsmith Decoux from Grand Marais entertained the camp and the public on Sunday afternoon.
Numerous children’s cooking and kitchen workshops were added to the program this year, which included activities for youngsters such as making pot holders, spice mixes, macaroni and cheese (yes, there’s even an historic recipe for it), pudding, and sweet almond biscuits.
A full slate of children’s activities and programs included making game pieces for period games such as Graces and Fox & Geese, producing an historic wintergreen salve and peppermint ointment, crafting snow goggles and poptop boxes from birch bark, and a full day of tinsmithing programs dedicated exclusively for kids on how got to make a candle holder guided by master artisan, Max Schram.
Left: Portrait artists were common throughout the settled areas in the 18th century. Men traveled to places like the stockade to do their work unless there was a talented wife (like the one pictured) who was trained to do portraits. Above: When there were no toys, voyageurs made toys like swans from reeds. Staff photos/Brian Larsen
Music continues to be a hallmark of the event as Grand Portage’s Stone Bridge Singers opened the weekend with the traditional drum, but this time in a new location at a special dedication ceremony for the newly rehabilitated community stone bridge, a project completed just a few weeks ago.
The park hosted musicians from the North Dakota and Montana border, Eric and Arty, who performed Saturday in the Great Hall and could be heard throughout camp all weekend entertaining the public by day and giving a special performance in camp late into the evening for the re-enactors as well. The re-enactor house band continues to grow as the ensemble playing on the Great Hall porch included members from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota, Michigan, and Manitoba.
On Saturday the performance by Grand Marais musicians Over the Waterfall in the afternoon kept visitors entertained and their lively performance during the evening regale energized the camp as participants danced late into the evening.
In addition, the monument’s very own fiddler Carrie Dlutkowski performed a special Sunday afternoon program and followed that up immediately after with a program on Metis dance.
The usual staples of camp competitions, music, and storytelling captivated the public throughout the event. Visitors were treated to a wide range of other activities including lacrosse matches, blacksmithing and tinsmithing workshop opportunities, a beef hide shoemaker on-site sharing his craft, and classes and demonstrations on cattail duck decoys, and corn husk doll making.
The weekend also included contests and games for re-enactors and public including a children’s scavenger hunt on Saturday and bead hunt on Sunday, and the familiar competitions of the Rugged Voyageur, Yokes on You, Fire-Starting, and Camp Chore Challenge.
Next year’s Rendezvous Days event will be August 9-11, 2019 and we cordially invite you all to come out and see us, visit with the re-enactors, and enjoy this spectacular event telling the fascinating history of the Great Lakes fur trade era.
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