photo of bald eagle sitting on a bare branch against a background of pine trees shrouded in fog from Unsplash by Ray Hennessy
The Lac du Flambeau Tomahawk Drum Circle performed at the Prescott (Wisconsin) High School for students on Friday and then again on Saturday afternoon for the community at large.
Drum Circle
The drummers are “nationally known and widely acclaimed for their musical performances,” having performed since 2006 in dozens of states, including California, New York, Oklahoma, and also in Canada.
The Tomahawk Drummers and the Master of Ceremony told their story through drums, dancing, and singing, and in the second portion of the performance, they invited audience participation—to whoop, to yodel, and to dance.
We heard just a small part of their story during the two hours of time on Saturday, February 3, about who they have been and who they are today as Ojibwe people.
Lac du Flambeau Tomahawk Drum Circle of six men seated around a big floor drum, the master of ceremony leading and teaching a circle of dancers from the audience. Photo from Prescott Community Education.
If you’re on facebook, several short videos of different dances are posted on the Prescott Community Education page. Here is a link to one video of a dance performed by UW-Stevens Point Professor Emeritus Alton “Sonny” Smart.
Or here is a Youtube video to the 2018 Lac du Flambeau Drumming Circle in Prescott, Wisconsin at the Great River Road Visitor and Learning Center at Freedom Park.
Lac du Flambeau Band
The Tomahawk Drum Circle is an Ojibwe family, members of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northern Wisconsin.
The name Lac du Flambeau (Lake of the Torches) was given to them by French traders and trappers because of the indigenous practice of harvesting fish at night by torchlight.
In their Anishinaabe language, their name is Waswaaganing, which means the place where they fish with a torch.
The Lac du Flambeau Reservation is composed of 86,600 acres: its streams, lakes, and rivers are roughly 24,000 acres.
Master of Ceremony
Alton Smart, Professor Emeritus of University Wisconsin-Stevens Point, was the speaker, dancer, and teacher. He has 40 years of dancing at powwows in traditional and grass dance categories.
An Anishinaabe educator, he holds, and has held, with many roles in native and non-native communities: (UW-Stevens Point, Department of Sociology and Social Work)
member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa born into the Fish Clan
a U.S. Army Airborne field medic in Vietnam and Germany
Tribal Judge for Bad River Band since 1985, currently Senior Associate Judge
post-graduate training and state certified in Family Therapy
Professor of Social Work since 1990
cultural educator in Dance, Singing, Arts and Crafts, History and Tribal Language (Ojibwe)
Professor Smart began our time together in the Anishinaabe language, offering thank you to all the grandfathers of many generations back in time. We learned that the language of the Ojibwe is composed of 70% verbs (describes action) and 30% nouns (describes things).
Robin Wall Kimmerer, in her book, Braiding Sweet Grass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants, wrote the same about the Potawatomi language and that English is composed of 70% nouns. The Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Odawa tribes share the Anishinaabe language.
Anishinaabe is a verb-based language. English is a noun-based language.
State of Wisconsin
Misunderstandings occurred in the 1970s at boat landings when the Ojibwe went fishing. Crowds of white protestors gathered, used racial epithets, threw things, and assaulted the fishermen. From the spearfishing controversy, also known as the Walleye War, the court recognized the rights of the Ojibwe to continue their traditions on and off reservation land, as had been negotiated in the Treaties of 1837, 1842, and 1854. They had ceded lands, but not traditional practices. (Milwaukee Public Museum)
As a result, Wisconsin Act 31 was passed in 1989 to create better understandings of indigenous rights. Beginning September 1991, social studies curriculum, at least twice in elementary school and at least once in high school, were to include instruction on the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of federally recognized tribes and bands.
A teacher of First Nations Class
High school teacher, Jeff Ryan started teaching in 1989 and wrote letters to elected Wisconsin officials, inviting them to visit with his high school civics class.
His courses included Civics, U.S. History, World Geography, and AP (Advanced Placement) First Nations. He created immersive learning experiences for his students and developed close collaborative relationships with the members of the Lac du Flambeau. (Sheboygan Press, November 2023)
Since 2000, he has brought hundreds of students and community members for four-day cultural exchanges to the Lac Du Flambeau Reservation in fall and summers, to learn about tribal governance and to experience the Ojibwe culture.
The Wisconsin Indian Education Association honored him in 2016 with a Ronald Satz Friend of Indian Education award for his successful work with Prescott School District leaders in expanding integration of First Nation Studies across several classes.
He also teaches a 4-week Community Education evening course to adults, “Wisconsin’s First Nations: Then & Now” in which we look at historical and contemporary perspectives, First Nations history, the Boarding School Era, Treaty Rights, Indian Gaming, and Athletic Logos, Mascots, and Names.
Circle of Relationships
Stories are how we share ourselves with other people, with the world around us. Relationships bring us together to create opportunities to learn more from one another and create a community of care.
When I came to Prescott United Church of Christ in 2019, the Kiwanis invited me to introduce myself at their business lunch. In my introduction, I included the previous 6-years of co-pastoring a multiracial church with a black clergyman.
After lunch, the Community Education Director asked if I would lead a community ed session about white privilege.
The community ed session developed into monthly gatherings of a dozen people, individuals from various businesses and churches. A separate anti-racism facebook page sprung up for a while. Eventually, we joined together and named ourselves Building an All-Inclusive Community.
In 2021, Israel Haas, then-Director of Great River Road Visitor and Learning Center of Freedom Park (GRRVLC) and one of their board members, Ka Vang, described their vision for “Voices of the Confluence” events. (Prescott sits on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people at the confluence of the St. Croix and the Mississippi Rivers).
The GRRVLC had some funds to cover costs for stipends and food for our family friendly events. Together we also applied for and received a grant through the Wisconsin Conference United Church of Christ.
Coming Full Circle
Two of our “Voices of the Confluence” events have been the Lac du Flambeau Tomahawk Drumming Circle at the high school.
Planned by teacher Jeff Ryan with Prescott Community Education, this year’s second time received funds from the Prescott Foundation and the Building an-All Inclusive Community, who also helped with logistics and before the event, with the drummers and Professor Smart and high school students, sharing a meal and conversations with the Drummers before the event.
photo of black sky and thousands of stars and a large galaxy with rings of planets around circling around it from Unsplash by photographer Guillermo Ferla.
Your Circle of Stories
What stories about your community have brought varied groups of people together?
What circle of communities do you belong to? A city neighborhood, rural neighbors, church, business, educational agencies, non-profit organizations, etc.
How do you envision building stronger and more resilient communities?