POWWOW Calendar

Tribe from the First Thanksgiving Holds Powwow this Weekend

Steve Mohan in Native Currents. Discussion »

Pokanoket, Pipesstone (pictured here) and Seven More Powwows this Weekend

THOMPSON, CONNECTICUT - Much is made of the first Thanksgiving when Native Americans helped the Pilgrims adapt to living in Plymouth, but rarely is a tribe named or many details of that tribe mentioned. The Pokanoket are that tribe and are still around today. They happen to be holding a powwow this weekend in Thompson Dam Park.

The Pokanoket tribe is the head tribe of the many tribes that make up the Wampanoag Nation. The Pokanoket trace their lineage back thousands of years before the Pilgrims arrived. By the time they arrived, The Pokanoket inhabited much of present day Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.

The Pokanoket were politically complex compared to their neighboring tribes and one of the more unique aspects is the pniesse, spiritual and military elite, that protected the Massasoit, Great Leader. The Pokanoket felt great sympathy for the Pilgrims after they lost more than half their people during the first winter. The Pokanoket taught the Pilgrims to farm and live in that region. Today the Pokanoket are still around spreading their history and this weekend that will be on display at their powwow.

POWWOW Calendar

Pokanoket Tribe Powwow
Thompson Dam Park
Thompson, CT
July 28 - July 29

146th Annual Homecoming Celebration
Veterans Memorial Park
Winnebago, NE
July 26 - July 29

1st Annual Buffalo Hills Pow Wow
54780 Opposum Run Road
Senecaville, OH
July 26 - July 29

34th Annual Thunderbird Grand Mid Summer Powwow
Queens County Farm Museum
Queens, NY
July 27 - July 29

Mocksville Native American Powwow 2012
644 N Main St
Mocksville, NC
July 27 - July 29

60th Annual Tulsa Pow Wow
Spirit Bank Event Center
Tulsa, OK
July 27 - July 29

43rd Kihekah Steh
Sklatook, OK
July 27 - July 29

16th Pipestone
400 Hiawatha Ave
Pipestone, Minnesota
July 28 - July 29

33rd Grand River Champion of Champions
Chiefswood Park
Ohsweken, Ontario
July 28 - July 29

posted July 26, 2012 6:30 am edt