Robbie Thomas
Spring Pow Wow at Walpole Island 2024
Finally, Robbie went somewhere and blogged about it, as opposed to bitching about this life.
One of my favorite annual events is the Walpole Island Pow Wows. They have a spring one and a fall one. We traveled from our area and took the ferry from Alognac to Walpole. The three of us forgot that the Spring Pow Wow is “close to the bridge” and the Fall Pow Wow is “close to the river.” The Pow Wow was packed but they also had a tent filled with chairs for anyone to sit on. So, we didn’t need to take the chairs out of the trunk.
I ate an Indian Taco for the first time in some years. Enjoyed quite a few Indian dances the folks had to offer. And we saw a man do some amazing tricks with hula hoops. I didn’t take a lot of photos of this Pow Wow. I sat back and enjoyed it and figured someone had made a video or two of this Pow Wow on YouTube. Sadly, couldn’t find any.
One thing worth mentioning was they would pass the microphone to other folks who would give a small summary of their life stories. There was a man who was from Walpole Island but later moved to Michigan, around the Traverse City area, and has spent most of his life there. Even going into the U.S. Marines. There was another fella who was born near Walpole Island but has lived in the state of New York for years. Not to say bad things about Walpole Island, but it doesn’t seem to offer much opportunity to its residents. Perhaps these folks had bigger dreams and staying in Walpole wouldn’t that?
I do want to go to more Pow Wows down the road, especially the ones in Canada. It’s peaceful for an Arab-American like me who is trying to find that during these troubling times. Apologies for the lack of pictures, but I wanted to watch the majority of the event with my own eyes and not behind a camera.
Peace, Love, and Fractions
Robbie Thomas