Rendezvous Days & Celebration Pow-Wow

Native Americans are the focus this weekend in Cook County as a contemporary Native American art show opens at the Johnson Heritage Post and the annual Rendezvous Days  and Celebration Pow-Wow gets underway in Grand Portage.

Plan to join hundreds of visitors, re-enactors and pow-wow dancers in Grand Portage this weekend for a great experience of Ojibwe culture and the traditional rendezvous. A collaboration between the Grand Portage Lake Superior Band of Chippewa and and the Grand Portage National Monument, this weekend is not to be missed. At the National Monument, there will be be lots of games, demonstrations and activities (including a reel dance with the Boone Slick Strings open to the public on Saturday night)  as well as an encampment with more than 300 re-eanactors.

The weekend also features storytelling with Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux, demonstrations by a tinsmith, a basketweaver and a blacksmith as well as old-time games and workshops. For a complete schedule of events at the Monument and the pow-wow, click here.

The Celebration Pow-Wow attracts dancers from all over the region and Canada and more than 350 dancers are expected this year. The host drum is the Grand Portage  Traditional Drum. Black Bear Crossing is the co-host. Murphy Thomas will be the M.C.

The pow-wow begins on Friday night with drum warm-ups starting at 7 p.m. Grand entries are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday. The community feast is at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The weekend also features a Walk/Run on Saturday morning, bingo, a men’s horsehoe tournament, a mixed softball tournament and a Midway with food and craft vendors from across the nation, and there is no admission charge. It really is a great way to spend a weekend.

This Friday night, the Johnson Heritage Post hosts an opening reception for a great show on contemporary Native American art. Entitled Four Points: The Art of Julie Buffalohead, Andrea Carlson, Jim Denomie and Star Wallowingbull, the exhibit will feature paintings, drawings and multi-media work by the four artists. (Click on the names above to see examples of the artists’ work on their Web sites.)
The opening reception at the Johnson Heritage Post is from 5-7 p.m. Friday.

Also on Friday, Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen opens a weekend show, “Celebrating the Art of Living” with Tom Christiansen, Kim Vorel, Korey Thompson, Jack Becker and Kristi Downing. The opening reception is from 5-7 p.m. on Friday night. There will be demonstrations and presentations on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday’s schedule:

11 a.m., “Intentional Art for Living an Intentional Life,” Kim Vorel

Noon: “The Tao of Foolishness,” Korey Thompson

1 p.m., “The Power of Intentions,” Marcia Hyatt

2 p.m.,  Reading: “A Few Last Words: Your Guide to the Art of Self-Memorializing,” Jack Becker

3 p.m. “Art That Adds Meaning Every Day,” Tom Christiansen.

Kristi Downing will be giving on-going demonstrations of ritual bowls throughout the day.

Also this Saturday, the Mid-Trail Homeowners Association will hold its annual fundraiser for the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department at Fire Hall No. 1 on the Trail. Look for a live auction, boutique, flea market, quilt raffle and refreshments.

Poet  Jill Breckenridge reads from her book “The Gravity of Flesh” at Drury Lane Books’ Salon at 5 p.m. Saturday as well.

In other art news, the Cook County Farm & Craft Market will be open this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. featuring locally grown produce and arts and crafts. It is held in the Senior Center parking lot.

Kelly Dupre and Jana Larson are in the process of installing a tree mosaic in the entrance hallway of The Garage. The mosaic was designed by 4th grade students at Sawtooth Elementary School. Stop by and take a look. They’re pretty amazing trees.

Kah Nee Tah Gallery in Lutsen has new paintings by Karen Knutson of Eden Prairie and bird tables and new paintings by Jan Wise. Wise just finished a show at the Johnson Heritage Post.

Tim Young is exhibiting his paintings at Chez Jude through the summer.

And here’s a headline story. Bryan Hansel made an incredible photograph of the northern lights on Elbow Lake recently that has been recognized nationally.

He writes: “A coronal mass ejection hit Earth’s magnetic field, causing a G2-class geomagnetic storm. Between 11 and 12 p.m. Tuesday (Aug 3), the storm resulted in a display of northern lights. I captured this picture over Elbow Lake, which is up the Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais.”

The image was featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s MN Today, the Duluth’s KDLH 3 News at Ten and has had almost 37,000 views on Flickr. To view this and see his work, click here.

Wednesday: Don Bauer plays at the Gunflint Tavern from 8-11 on Wednesday night. Caribou Highlands at Lutsen Mountains features summer jazz from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Pete Kavanaugh plays at Birch Terrace from 7-10 p.m.

Friday: Timmy Haus with Jef Cierniak at the Tavern, 9 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights; Trail’s End Band, Trail Center, 5:30- 9 p.m.

Saturday: Don Bauer plays on the Birch Terrace Deck Saturday and Sunday, 1:30-5:30 p.m.; Joe Paulik plays on the Eight Broadway Stage behind Eight Broadway Art Gallery from noon to 2 p.m., Max Bichel at the Pie Place, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Timmy Haus with Jeff Cierniak at the Tavern, 9-midnight.

Sunday: Joe Paulik at the Tavern 6:30 p.m., Tres Amigos at Devil Track Resort, 5:30-8 p.m.

Monday: Bluesman Jim Hall at the Tavern, 8-11

Tuesday: Bump Blomberg at the Tavern, 8-11

Next Wednesday: Ian Elexy, Gunflint Tavern, 8-11 p.m.; Bob Bingham & Gordon Thorne, Bluefin Grill, Tofte, 8-10 p.m.

Let’s end with some summer music, via Al Hunter on Facebook.