SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Sign up here to stay up-to-date on festival happenings!
BOOZHOO and WELCOME!
Along with our core partners listed below, we are excited to welcome everyone to join us at our 2023 Festival to experience our community, our culture, and the Indigenous art that captures its history and beauty.
Bringing the beauty of our Indigenous culture into the spotlight for prosperity, comradery and sustainability. Our art is a part of our every day lives, it is who we are. These creations are a powerful tool carrying our message; sharing our stories, dreams, and struggles. They provide a record of our history and a view into our future. Such art can bring understanding, strength and pride, and help connect us in a good way.
A Red Lake elder was talking with us, and he said, “We need to wake up our ancestors in our youth." He continued to explain that our young ones are each given a gift, but in today’s world, our young are too busy to see what that gift is meant to be. "We need to share with them, show them the beauty inside of them so they can carry our teachings and traditions on to the next generations."
Nate Mathews
Bemidji City Manager
This is a tremendous opportunity to celebrate the artistic heritage of the Anishinaabe community, while also providing an outlet for artists to gain exposure and develop their art.
Our goal is to connect and build stronger relationships with our neighbors, while sharing our story as Indigenous people.
Anishinaabe is the Ojibwe word for “People." Historically, the only people known to the Ojibwe were themselves and other Tribes in the regions they traveled. Once other cultures began arriving on the continent, the distinction became more specific to mean Indigenous people of the continent. These new cultures of people then labeled the Anishinaabe “Indians” because Columbus mistakenly thought he landed on India. This later evolved into American Indians or Native Americans. However, each Tribe has their own language, thus their own word for “people."
Indigenous: This is an identification of people who were originally in a region before any other people of different cultures arrived there. The Anishinaabe people were on the North American continent before the arrival of other cultures. They are indigenous to this region.
The inspiration for our Festival poster
The floral design captures the essence of the Ojibwe people from the Woodlands region of North America. Woodland art explores the relationships between people, animals, and plants, and is rich with spiritual imagery and symbolism. Historically, you were able to recognize who created each piece because each family used their own unique signature design. Our floral designs are well known to our neighbors and well sought after due to the colorful and intricate designs. The quality of this artistry can be seen in ancient pieces still surviving as museum pieces today.
ARTIST EXHIBITORS
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
