6th PowWow on Manatawny Creek is This Weekend

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Ron Williams.

The 6th Annual "PowWow on Manatawny Creek" will take place this coming weekend, May 4 and 5 at Pottstown Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

This year the event will welcome the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 565 Color Guard who will lead the Grand Entry and Flag Ceremony. "Each year the PowWow circuits throughout the nation recognize veterans of the armed forces and first responders as an integral part of our tradition and we are glad to be honoring the American Legion Sanatoga chapter as well," according to organizer Ron Williams

Master of Ceremony Barry Lee is returning to lead dances and demonstrations and will also join with his Native Folklore band, Spirit Wing along with Barbara Christy.

Directing the circle this year are Head Dancers Hanna Jacobs Keller and Michael Nephew, past President of the American Indian Society. The Host Drum, The Zotigh Singer, and Guest Drums, Medicine Horse Singers, Red Blanket Singers and visiting Drum Gray Cloud singers promise make a memorable impression on the crowd.

As usual there will be a wide variety of Native American and Native American influenced merchandise, leather work, jewelry, art, clothing and children's items as well. Weather permitting a Falconer who has graced many of the PowWows in the Mid-Atlantic region will visit.

Dance presentations will include the Salinas Family Aztec Dancers and Hoop Dancer Matt Clair. And as always, ArtFusion 19464 will be offering Children events at their tent including some skill tossing activities.

To top it all off, the Circle Legacy Center will be providing Indian Fry Bread, Fry Bread Tacos and Wojapi, (a berry based Native American desert).

Hopewell Hosting Program in Native American Trade

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Friends of Hopewell Furnace.

A program on "Early Pennsylvania Treaties and Trade with Native Americans will be presented by historic preservationist Larry Ward at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, in the Hopewell Furnace Conference Room.

The free program is sponsored by the Friends of Hopewell Furnace.

Ward will bring to life his research on Mouns Jones who was a licensed Indian Trader along with others who traded with 18th century Native Americans. 

Native to the Schuylkill Highlands are the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians. 

They were a loose confederation of Algonkian bands, which at the opening of the 17th century occupied a continuous territory from the Delaware Bay to the Blue Mountain Ridge, including today’s Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. 

A prominent feature of the park is the Lenape Trail, a 5.5 mile trail that runs through Hopewell Furnace and neighboring French Creek State Park. See Area Features Map.

A published author along with Stephen Kindig of the Atlas of Drawings of Structures Preserved by the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County [2008], Ward has served as director and vice president of the trust. 

He continues to serve actively on the Board of Directors. He is a known bookseller, heading up Museum Books, LLC. He practiced law in Berks County from 1968-1997 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Providence College and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.

Established in 1994, the Friends of Hopewell Furnace is the official non-profit fundraising arm of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. A 501(c)3 citizen organization, its mission is to support the preservation, maintenance and programs of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. Donations to the Friends may be tax deductible according to the rules set by the Internal Revenue Service.

While at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site visitors are encouraged to go into the village, tour the buildings, see Hopewell's water wheel and learn about iron making and why Hopewell Furnace is important to our nation’s history. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the park is located five miles south of Birdsboro, PA, off Route 345. For more information visit www.friendsofhopewellfurn.org.

Those Who Came Before

Matthew D. Harris, RPA, will present his findings of the early native people of the Schuylkill Valley, at Lock 60 of the Schuylkill Canal in Mont Clare from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 20.

Harris will discuss the context of the land during this time; the Middle Woodland Period; people and their forays and settlement in the Schuylkill Valley for seasonal fish migrations; and regional trade in tool making resources evident from lithic materials, biface and ceramic types found in our region. 

Weather permitting, the indoor presentation will be followed by a moderately difficult 1.5 hour hike up the first ravine to the same vistas of the Schuylkill River Valley seen by these early native people.

The event is open to ages 12 and up with an adult, $10 donation. Seating is limited to the first 20 participants.

Pre-registration required by e-mailing: programs@schuylkillcanal.com

Those attending should meet at Locktender’s House at Lock 60, off the Route 23 bridge.