Free admission, live artist demonstrations and a closing social dance are on the schedule Monday as the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day in downtown Indianapolis. The event is built around the histories, arts and cultures of Native peoples from the Great Lakes region, a focus organizers say is new to this year's programming.
According to the museum's own event listing, the celebration offers a full schedule of Great Lakes tribal histories, arts, and cultures with live performances and make-and-take art activities. The celebration gets underway at 10 a.m., with an artist panel scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. featuring Jason Wesaw and David Martin of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi alongside Katrina Mitten and Dani Tippman of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, facilitated by Monica Jo Raphael. As reported by WISH-TV, the celebration gives visitors a chance to better understand Native American culture while the event features native artists and lets attendees make art of their own.
A Full Day Built Around Great Lakes Traditions
The same four artists return for live demonstrations from 1 to 4 p.m., per the museum's schedule. Visitors can also take public tours of current exhibitions, including Then and Now: Art from the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, and a native plants garden talk and tour rounds out the daytime programming. The Daily Journal notes the museum's hands-on offerings include paper bandolier bags, felt projects and 3D paper fish.
Leading the artist panel discussion is Monica Jo Raphael, the museum's Hoback curator of Great Lakes Native art and cultures and tribal liaison, the same outlet reports. The day's programming closes with a dance performance featuring Native dancers from several Native nations, billed on the official schedule as the Southern Great Lakes Stomp and Social Dance running from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
What the Stomp Dance Represents
Raphael described the closing performance as something larger than entertainment. The Stomp Dance is a living ceremonial and social dance tradition shared among the Myaamia, Shawnee, Lenape, Peoria, Wyandotte and many other Native communities, according to the same account from the Daily Journal. The communities named in the celebration have homelands in the Great Lakes region, though many were forcibly removed to present-day Oklahoma.
The Eiteljorg sits at 500 W. Washington St. in White River State Park, according to Visit Indy. The museum says its Indigenous Peoples Day programming recognizes and celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of Native peoples, and museum leaders have said they aim to expand cultural offerings and build on relationships with tribes in the Great Lakes region.
Previous Indigenous Peoples' Day Celebrations
This marks at least the fourth year the Eiteljorg has held an Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration. The museum has hosted a free Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration. At the time, the event was described as the museum's second year observing the holiday.
The inaugural 2023 celebration leaned on performance storytelling, with several Indigenous storytellers sharing stories and discussing language revitalization, as reported by the Indianapolis Recorder. That first year combined a storytelling event on Oct. 7 with free admission the following Monday, according to WFYI. More information on Monday's event is available on the Eiteljorg Museum's website.
