Notice: This story was originally published with incorrect spelling. The following article is the corrected version
The Biskaabiiyaang Collective and Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) held the 2025 Nanda Gikendan “Seek to Learn” Powwow this past Saturday at the Gates Tennis Center. The Powwow invited many people to come learn about Anishinaabe culture and celebrate in a beautiful event of art, music, and dance. The day held many events, including inter-tribal dances that allowed everybody to participate in dance. Spot dances featured individual dance styles, each with their own significance, a deadliest aunties and uncles competition, and a magnificent grand entry to open the celebration.
At 12:30 p.m. the event began with the grand entry: a beautiful display of all the dancers and dance styles in their hand-made regalia behind the music created by the drum groups’ rhythm and singing. Following the grand entry was the Flag Song to honor their veterans performed by one of the three drum groups that served as the heart of the event. The rhythmic drumming represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth and serves to connect participants to their ancestral roots.
The elderly and children alike shared the positive emotions evoked by dance. The master of ceremonies encouraged everyone in the crowd to participate in inter-tribal dances with both friends and strangers. Other dances were divided into men’s and women’s dances. One of the men’s dances was the Woodland Dance, a wartime victory dance from pre-colonial times with connections to baga’adowewin (lacrosse in Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language). This dance displayed aggressive movements and shouting as the dancers were adorned with feathered turbans, clubs, and baga’adowaan (lacrosse sticks). One of the women’s dances was the Jingle Dress which originates from the Ojibwe tribe in the Great Lakes region. Jingle dresses featured in this dance were beautifully crafted in many different colors with beads and embroidery; these dresses are believed to heal those who are sick. The dance featured zig-zagging movements representing a person’s zig-zagging path through life.
The Biskaabiiyaang Collective wanted to celebrate Anishinaabe culture and be able to teach newcomers about these deeply rooted traditions. Biskaabiiyaang means “returning to ourselves” in Anishinaabe as a symbol of staying connected with their ancestral roots and pushing back against Western practices. Anna Lindgren, the president of the Biskaabiiyaang Collective, wanted people to know the Nanda Gikendan Powwow is “an event for anyone and everyone to come out to and enjoy and celebrate.”
