DOWAGIAC — As the host drum Whitefish Jr.’s singing brought the Pow Wow Arena to life this past weekend, more than 355 dancers in colorful and carefully crafted regalia joined in the grand entry ceremony to share dances passed on from generation to generation.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians hosted its 34th annual Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow at the Pokagon Band’s Rodgers Lake Campus, 58620 Sink Road. At the end of summer, “Kee-boon-mein-kaa,” celebrates the end of the huckleberry harvest.

The event attracted native singers, vendors and dancers from all around the country. Staying aligned with tradition, the event featured dance contests for dancers of all ages.

As dancers took to the arena, with hopes to win prize money, vendors lined the outside of the arena selling native artwork, handmade jewelry and traditional foods.

Despite clear and sunny skies, the sound of sprinkles of rain rang through the arena as native women dancers competed in the jingle dance, their regalia outfitted with hundreds of pieces of metal clanking together in harmony.

Koria Manning, 20, of Chicago, made her way through the vendors, looking at items and enjoying her second time at the pow wow.

“I’m only from Chicago, so this pow wow is extremely close to me,” Manning said.

Earlier this month, Manning sustained a concussion, which stopped her from participating in the jingle dance — her favorite.

As dancing continued throughout the afternoon, an audience was also drawn to a bright red tent with the word “Pigeon” on its side.

Located next to the tent John Pigeon, of Hopkins, Michigan, kneeled next to a small pit, eager to teach the general public and other event attendees how to create black ash baskets, a tradition that has long been part of Potawatomi culture. Pigeon learned as a young boy and has since passed his traditions and teachings onto his own children and grandchildren.

Pigeon has been attending the Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow since it moved to the grounds outside of the Pokagon Band’s headquarters in Dowagiac. It was previously hosted for many years at St. Patrick’s County Park in Indiana.

Pigeon prepared a small smoke fire without blowing, and instead use an eagle fan he borrowed from a nearby native dancer.

“We can’t blow on the fire,” Pigeon said. “The elders could blow on the fire, but I have to use the eagle fan.”

The fire could be used by the drummers to purify themselves, Pigeon said.

He was just 4 years old when he learned how to make his first black ash basket. To make a normal basket, Pigeon said the process can take an hour and a half once the tree is found and cut down. However, if a basket is going to be used for generations to come, it could take three to four hours, he said.

To the side, Pigeon’s son, also named John, started to separate the black ash bark from the tree. Teaching his children about the art was important, he said.

“It was vital,” Pigeon said. “They know who they are. They’ve been out with me ever since I could hold them in my arms. I talked about the same things my folks talked about. They are well rounded in who they are, and they know where they come from.”

Pigeon said both native and nonnative people invite him to teach them how to create black ash baskets. As a child, Pigeon, who was called “Ringo” by his parents, was taught that his basket weaving was a gift he needed to share.

“This tree is a present. It’s a gift,” Pigeon said. “I share these gifts with my people, with my friends, my family, my community here.”

Pigeon is a machinist by trade, was joined at the event by his wife, his daughter, Amanda, grandchildren and son, John. 

“My son and my daughter, they always come to do this,” Pigeon said. “I do my best so that my parents are proud of me.”

Next to the tent, Pigeon’s son John hits a black ash tree with an axe to harvest strips of wood off the tree. With each hit of the axe against the tree, the grain loosened.

“Every time I hit it with an axe, it loosens it more and more,” John said. “Sheer force of energy going through the axe and into this tree forces the grain apart.”

The basket weaving steps continued as farther down the road, a display of handcrafted jewelry and items sat perched on display.

Hal Wiggins, of Suttons Bay in northern Michigan, has been attending the pow wow as a vendor for more than 20 years. He sells many items, including art, purses, knives, drums and turtle rattles.

“I like the people,” Wiggins said. “You meet people — old people, new people. It’s just a good gathering.”

Wiggins plans to continue to attend the event for as long as he is able. When creating an item, a timeline is hard to pinpoint, he said.

“You have a work bench and about 20 different articles sitting on the work bench,” He said. “You just don’t know.”

In creating his own traditions, Wiggins has traveled to the pow wow with his daughter, Cindy Coy, for the past 15 years. While Wiggins sells the drums, Coy focuses on the jewelry.

“I just do it in my spare time to relax,” Coy said. “I have a seasonal job, so I have the winter off. I like to take apart a lot of old jewelry I find at different shops and repurpose it.”

As the dance contests came to an end on Saturday afternoon, Gladys Martin, 14, of Gun Lake Territory in Shelbyville, Michigan took a break from dancing. Martin has attended Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow for most of her life.

“I’ve been around the people of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi for most of my life,” Martin said. “Plus, out here, the agriculture is just wonderful.”