Weekend event focuses on ‘teaching daughters’
Weekend event focuses on ‘teaching daughters’
By KELLY FOSNESS, DMG Writer
BARAGA — If there’s one thing Pat Peterson wants to pass on to her three granddaughters, it’s an understanding of culture.
For the past 13 years, Peterson has been making the drive from Hancock to join in the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s Maawanji’iding celebration at the Ojibwa Campground in Baraga. Reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones, Pat said, is what it’s all about.
“It’s really a celebration of life,” Pat said while sitting with her granddaughters, Meghan Peterson, 10, and Abigail Peterson, 8. “We’ve been coming to the pow-wow even before my oldest (granddaughter) Corinna could even walk.
“And in our culture,” she continued, “we wouldn’t carry a baby in because that’s considered giving her up to the great spirit. So I remember my mother and I each grabbed a hand and walked her in.”
Hailing from the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Pat never had the opportunity as a child to become involved with her culture like she is today. In those days, her mother was “ashamed” to be Native American, therefore she, too, was “ashamed.” She didn’t want that to be the case with her grandchildren.
“I want my granddaughters to know their culture and be involved,” she stressed. “I want to teach these girls to be very proud of where they came from.”
For a long time, Pat said, Native Americans didn’t have pow-wows, which also made it difficult to get in touch with their past.
“I want them to realize how the first people lived and how they enjoyed life and nature,” she added. “I guess the number one thing I want them to learn is to respect their elders.”
Each dressed in brightly colored regalia, crafted by their grandmother, Meghan and Abigail said they look forward to the weekend event every year.
“I like dancing and eating fry bread,” Meghan said.
“It’s really cool,” Abigail added. “It’s just a lot of fun.”
Mother of three and the owner of Peterson’s Fish Market in Hancock, Pat said the pow-wow “is just a wonderful experience for anyone.”
Kelly Fosness can be reached at kfosness@mininggazette.com
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