Join us for the Annual Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow on August 9-11, 2024 at the Grand Portage Monument Heritage Center in Grand Portage, Minnesota. Also known as the Grand Portage Powwow, the annual Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow is sponsored by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The event is an American Indian cultural gathering focusing on dance, song and family celebration. The Pow Wow includes traditional foods, music, and craft stands along with other events in the community. Over 350 dancers participated in last year’s Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow.

Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow
Mid-day Grand Entry Saturday and Sunday are particularly inspirational and colorful as U.S. flags are raised to military veterans from Grand Portage, and staff bearers lead dancers, dressed in traditional regalia, into the Pow Wow ring. Through the Pow Wow, all people have the chance to experience Native American culture in a wonderful way.

The Grand Portage Band of Minnesota Chippewa holds its traditional Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow adjacent to the Grand Portage National Monument the same weekend as Grand Portage Rendezvous Days. Vendors offer a wide selection of arts, crafts and Native American food. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Grand Portage Band and its heritage.

Free Admission – Public Welcome
No entrance fee for Grand Portage National Monument or Pow Wow. Donations welcome.

Location: 35 miles from Superior Inn Grand Marais
Grand Portage Monument Heritage Center
170 Mile Creek Rd.
Grand Portage, MN 55605

For more Powwow & Vendor information: 218-475-2800 danal@grandportage.com

Schedule (Subject to Change)
Friday
10:00 am Great Hall- Rendezvous Days Pow Wow Welcome & Arrival
6:30 pm Old Timer’s Softball Game
7:00 pm Pow Wow Warm Ups

Saturday
8:00 am Mixed Softball Tournament
9:00 am Registration or 1 & 3 Mile Walk-Run
10:00 am Flag Raising
10:30 am Walk-Run Begins
1:00 pm Grand Entry Pow Wow Grounds
2:00 pm Bingo (Fire Hall Garage)
5:00 pm Men’s Horseshoe Tournament
5:00 pm Feast (Pow Wow Grounds)
%:00 pm Hand Drum Contest – 1st 15 Drums
7:00 pm Grand Entry (Pow Wow Resumes)

Sunday
8:00 am Mixed Softball Tournament
8:00 am Breakfast (Pow Wow Grounds)
8:00 am Flag Raising
8:00 am Turkey Shoot (Blazes Pit)
1:00 pm Grand Entry Pow Wow Grounds
2:00 pm Bingo (Fire Hall Garage)
4:00 pm Raffle Drawing

Credit Above Photos: Grand Portage National Monument, Public domain, via NPS

The Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow is sponsored by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Our event is family friendly. No drugs or alcohol permitted on Pow Wow Grounds. 24-hour security provided. Not responsible for accidents or lost items. No pets allowed on the Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow Grounds. In case of rain, the Grand Portage Community Center will be open on Saturday and Sunday.

About Grand Portage Rendezvous Days
The annual Grand Rendezvous at Grand Portage, Minnesota, is still celebrated every year during the second weekend of August. The rendezvous is held in conjunction with the Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow, sponsored by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe). The annual gathering is their biggest of the year, a time when Grand Portage comes alive and reflects on its rich heritage. Reenactors from across the country and Canada gather to camp and challenge each other to games and skills from our historic past, next door to the pow wow at the Grand Portage Historic Rendezvous Encampment.
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About The Grand Portage National Monument
The Grand Portage National Monument is a U.S. national monument located on the North Shore of Lake Superior. This historical place was the center of fur trade activity and the Native America Ojibwe heritage. The monument is surrounded by 710 acres within the boundaries of Grand Portage Ojibwe Indian Reservation and is the location of the annual Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow and Grand Portage Rendezvous.

About The Grand Portage
The Grand Portage is an 8.5-mile historic trade route of the French-Canadian voyageurs that passes through waterfalls and rapids that flow into Lake Superior. It became the gateway into rich northern fur-bearing country, where it connected remote interior outposts to lucrative international markets. In August every year, the voyageurs would show up and the company owners would come from Europe, and Grand Portage became a rough and tumble celebration. After the celebration, the furs were loaded aboard massive voyageur canoes and paddled across the Great Lakes and eventually shipped to Europe where many became hats. In the states, the voyageurs would carry trade goods up the portage and then paddle 100s of miles back to their outposts. This repeated until beaver was almost extinct. Luckily for the beaver, the fur hats that their pelts were used went out of fashion.

Now, each year on the second weekend of August, fur trade reenactors descend on Grand Portage, sent up canvas tents, haul birchbark canoes around and the weekend becomes a fun family weekend. The local tribe’s powwow also goes on at the same time.

Mark your calendar today so you don’t miss the next Grand Portage Rendezvous Days Celebration Pow Wow at the Grand Portage Monument Heritage Center in Grand Portage, Minnesota.

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