Ojibwe traditions highlighted at St. Croix RiverFest

Ojibwe artists, cooks and culture bearers were featured at this year’s St. Croix RiverFest in Hudson, Wisconsin, from July 22-26. Traditional foods, art, prayer and powwow-style performances took place at the event, according to the Hudson Star‑Observer. Lisa Mosay, a 60-year-old Ojibwe woman, attended the festival with her family and served wild rice soup, fry bread and Native American tacos. “Our culture is beautiful,” Mosay was quoted as saying. “It’s unique.”

Indigenous artwork at the event included beadwork and birchbark jewelry from Melissa "Niigaaniigaabowikwe" Fowler, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. “We need to have our people out here doing these kinds of things,” Fowler said. Programming also included prayer and song led by Michael Decorah of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, who shared the tribe’s history and emphasized cultural visibility.