Join us Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, from 10 a.m. until dark at Foster Park (721 W. Superior St.) for “Drums Along the Wildcat,” a multi-tribal traditional gathering featuring exhibitions, merchandise and community services information.
The rain-or-shine event, now in its second year, is free and open to the public. All are welcome.
“Again this year, we welcome the drums and the dancers back on ancestral homelands after the forced removal of many families here in the 1840s,” said Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore, a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. “It will be a special moment on Saturday, Sept. 21, when the drums and the dancing starts, and our community gathers to celebrate together.”
Vendors open at 10 a.m., and the ceremonial event starts with the Grand Entry of flags and dancers into the dancing circle at 11 a.m. Special honor recognitions and various dancing and drumming exhibitions will take place periodically throughout the day, with Evening Grand Entry at 6 p.m. The event will also feature vendors selling authentic tribal merchandise and food, as well as community and health organizations providing information about their services for the public.
All of Howard County, Indiana, lies in the residue of the Great Miami Reserve. In 1844, Kokomo became the county seat of the last-named county on the pre-removal communal land of the Miami tribe of Indians.
David Foster, president of the Kokomo Early History Learning Center, Inc., is a fifth-generation descendant of the family that helped organize Kokomo in those early days. He said the event is designed to ensure everyone can learn more about this shared history.
“About two-and-a-half percent of Howard County residents selected Native American as identity on the most recent U.S. federal census,” Foster said. “We look forward to hearing their stories and learning more about their lives. We hope everyone can join us Sept. 21 when we celebrate the community’s Indigenous and contemporary culture on ancestral homeland.”
This event, the sixth in a series, is sponsored by Kokomo Native Initiative, an alliance of organizations in Howard County, Indiana, including the City of Kokomo, the Howard County Historical Society, Indiana University Kokomo, and the Kokomo Early History Learning Center, Inc.
The group supports the social, cultural, community and economic development initiatives of the Indiana Native American Indian Affairs Commission (INAIAC) by creating programs and activities to educate the local community and to help Native people learn more about services and support available to them in north central Indiana.