A Multicultural Afternoon

Last week, I saw something about a Pow-Wow in Neenah on Saturday on Facebook. It was going to be the first time in over 25 years that Neenah was going to have a Pow-Wow. It sounded cool but I really had to get my photo book done besides T wanted me to come to the Children’s Museum with them. On Saturday morning, Holly texted me asking if I wanted to go to the Pow-Wow. Oh how I wanted to go. I said if I get enough pages done in the book, I would go. My free photo book code from Shuttefly was expiring on Sunday and I really wanted to take advantage of it. Well I got the photo book half done and could spare a few hours to check out the Pow-Wow. B, T, and J came with.

The Pow-Wow was being held in Shattuck Park. The Menomonee Indians were hosting the Pow-Wow. Shattuck Park was the perfect venue for a Pow-Wow. It has circular, tiered grass seating, and there is enough parking nearby. Having a Pow-Wow outside is so much nicer than having it indoors… especially on a sunny day.

This was the 2nd Pow-Wow I attended this year and it was much better than the Potawatomi one at State Fair Park. The one at State Fair was indoors and there were a lot of people making it difficult to see the dances. This one was much easier to see with the slight tiers for seating and fewer people.
The Emcee was great. He had a humorous presentation. It made it very enjoyable.

The dances were very cool too. At first we were standing behind the crowd but then I met up with Holly and Julie who had front row seats and kinda squeezed myself on their bench. I had a much better few.
My favorite parts were the drums and the colorful costumes which hare key to any good Pow-Wow.

After a few dances, I was over the Pow-Wow. To me, all the dances seemed the same. We left to get lunch since B hadn’t eaten yet. As we were walking towards Subway, we see tents set up and a couple food trucks. We decided to head over that way. It was Oktoberfest put on by Lion's Tail Brewing Company.


It was neat little Oktoberfest. There was beer, German Food, and big tables meant for meeting new people. The only thing we were missing was the Oompa Band. Maybe it was coming later as there was a stage. It wasn’t quite like being in Munich but for downtown Neenah, they certainly tried especially since it was early in the day and not many people were there yet.

B had pizza from Broken Tree which was really good. Broken Tree was offering an Oktoberfest pizza with sauerkraut and bratwurst or something like. I’ll stick to pepperoni. He also had a pork shank that looked really good. T had a hot dog in a pretzel bun. I love pretzel buns. Then she had a pretzel which she shared with me and it was a bit harder than I expected but still really good.

Holly and Julie showed up with steins of beer. The grapefruit beer Julie had was actually really good and I don’t like grapefruit. The beer Holly had tasted like your regular Miller Lite. I wasn’t impressed. I would have loved to have a beer but based on the size of the beer and the time frame, I knew getting one was not a good idea.

Overall it was fun couple of hours. I am glad I decided to go. It was a gorgeous day to sit outside and enjoy the free things Neenah had to offer. I would go back to both the Pow-Wow and Oktoberfest again in the future.

#752 See an Indian Pow Wow

A couple of weeks ago, I got a random text from Stacy asking if I was interested in going to a pow-wow. I asked when it was and in the mean time I found what she was referring to on Facebook... The Winter Pow-Wow at State Fair Park the weekend I was going to be down in Milwaukee. We decided that's what we would do when we met up for the afternoon.

The Winter Pow Wow is an annual festival that takes place the 2nd weekend in March at State Fair Park. It is put on by Indian Summer Festival Inc. There is a marketplace and traditional foods not mention dancing and drums. On Sunday there is a prayer service. All events are open to the public.

When mentioning that we were going to the Pow-Wow to the hubby, he looked at me and asked if I have ever been to a Pow-Wow. I said no. He was like not even at the Packer game? I guess if the pre-game entertainment at Family Night is considered a Pow-Wow, then yes I guess I've been to a Pow-Wow. To me, it is pregame festivities.

The Winter Pow-Wow was not what I expected. Honestly I was disappointed. It was in an expo building with a concrete floor. There was a small area for the dancing and drums with very little seating. The acoustics weren't very good. The marketplace was set up around that. Unless you were lucky to get a seat, it was hard to see. We got there during the grand entrance and I could barely see what was going on. We wandered around a little bit after the grand entrance and found a better spot by the camera people.  It seemed to me that they were just dancing the same thing over and over and any one that wanted to dance could. Maybe that is what it is all about but to me it seemed disorganized.

The traditional dress was cool. Stacy made the comment about the neon colors of some of the girls' dresses. We found the brightness a bit odd but I do know that there Mexican dancers there which could be wearing the bright colors. I do not know much about Native Dress and am not one to ask so I could be off the mark. Whatever the reason for the bright colors, they were still very beautiful.

I may have found this disorganized but I have limited knowledge to base it on. I would love to see another Pow-Wow to see how it compares. It is important to broaden my horizons and partake in these cultural experiences because it is part of our history just like seeing Civil War Reenactments and visiting historical sites.