From 1951 to Eisenhower to today, Indian Bowl showcases Ojibwe culture in Wisconsin Northwoods

LAC DU FLAMBEAU – Billed as the centerpiece for Ojibwe cultural sharing and education for the Northwoods, the weekly summer Lac du Flambeau Indian Bowl events have been taking place for almost 75 years.

The series of weekly mini pow wows and cultural demonstrations on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation are advertised on TV commercials throughout the Northwoods inviting anyone to visit and learn a little about Ojibwe culture. They have been going on since 1951.

“I grew up in the area and this is my first time (at the Indian Bowl),” said Kathy DeLorme, who was visiting last week from Phoenix, Ariz. “I think it’s great.”

Her daughter, Chenoa Morrison, said she really enjoyed a hoop dance performance by Ronnie Preston, who also works as the cultural director at the American Indian Center in Chicago.

In 1965, the Indian Bowl garnered national attention when former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and his wife Mamie visited the Indian Bowl. In an Ojibwe naming ceremony, Eisenhower was given the name Giniw-Wi-Giizhig, or Golden Eagle, in honor of his visit.

But Eisenhower had started visiting the reservation and the Indian Bowl years earlier, according to tribal elder Alton “Sonny” Smart. Eisenhower served as president from 1953 to 1961, and had visited the Lac du Flambeau Reservation to fish and learn about Ojibwe culture in 1952, according to Smart.

Smart said Eisenhower was shocked to learn that tribal members were not allowed to be served beer at bars and restaurants even on their own reservation. “He said, ‘These guys served under me in World War II’ and couldn’t believe they weren’t allowed to be served alcohol,” Smart said.

Eisenhower served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, and Indigenous peoples, including Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe, have always served in the U.S. military at among the highest rates of any groups.

When Eisenhower was elected president, he had a hand in repealing the alcohol ban for Indigenous peoples across the country. Smart said although many Indigenous families have been devastated by alcoholism, the ban was bane to tribal people who should be allowed to make their own choice.

Smart said the Indian Bowl itself was in defiance of another ban for tribal people – the practice of Native American religion. The 1887 Dawes Act banned the practice of Native American religious ceremonies in the United States, as well as opened up reservation land for acquisition by non-tribal people.

The 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act under President Jimmy Carter repealed that ban, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that amendments more fully allowed the practice of Native American religions. Prior to that, Smart said the only way Indigenous peoples could openly practice their culture, such as wearing regalia, performing traditional dances or beating drums, was through “social dances,” such as those at the Indian Bowl.

“It was a way people could practice their spiritual ways because it was against the law to practice our religion until the 1990s,” Smart said. “We could do it socially, but if we did it in private ceremonies we could go to jail.”

The Indian Bowl runs every Tuesday through Aug. 13, with a special presentation on Thursday, July 4, featuring a fireworks display.

“It’s about Indians showing what culture was here before the white man came,” said Lac du Flambeau President John Johnson about the Indian Bowl. “To some, it’s amusement, but we’re reenacting what we had before.”

Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.