Mendota’s 25th Wacipi – Pow Wow Sept 9-11-2022. The pow wow is over for another year on this most sacred land of the Dakota people. This was our best attendance for a long time. We have had other years just as productive with great attendances.
Thank you all for your gifts, and so many best wishes. So many calls, emails, texts.
I’m so honored to have all the people who support me. There are thousands who support me.
This is my last powwow. I have retired after 18 years of organizing the Wacipi / Powwow.
I’m not retiring as the Tribal Chair. We are so close to filing for Federal Recognition. I and others have worked to hard for many years to make this happen.
I want to say Pidamaya ye / thank you to everyone who helped setup for 4 days and the day and a half to take down. The volunteers were awesome and a big part of the PowWow. We could not do it without you all.
I want to say thank you to St Peter’s Historic Church for letting us use the church each year for 25 years. If you drive by St Peters now, you will never know there was a Pow Wow there.
Next year we may use the Two River School High School used to be (Sibley High School) in Mendota Heights for our 26th Wacipi / Pow Wow. Principal Al Johnson offered the school for our next Pow Wow. At our fundraiser we had at St Peter’s Church earlier this year.
Town Square TV and Channel 2 were there. Gerald Krell Auteurproductions.com interviewed me on Saturday just before the 7pm grand entry. That should be interesting LOL.
I saw people taking many pictures and videos. Please share those pictures and videos with us. Please send them to mendotadakota@gmail.com.
We need someone to organize the Pow Wow. I have all the information you will ever need.
I started preparing the Pow Wow in March. There is a tremendous amount of work, months of your time.
The person I pick must be completely devoted to all the work. This is a volunteer position. I would suggest you get a committee together of at least 20 volunteers. Give them each a task, give it to them a few months in advance. Make sure they follow through with their volunteer job.
When you see all the dancers come into the circle, hear the drums, people coming from all over for our small traditional Wacipi / Pow Wow in Mendota, it makes all the hard work worth it. I often have tears running down my face, all good tears of joy!
The Pow Wow makes my heart and soul soar like an eagle!!
Please contact the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community with any questions.
Website www.mendotadakota.com, Tribal office 651-452-4141.
We currently don’t have an office we can use. We need a community center not just a small office that we cannot use for any meetings.
Donations are accepted for a long battle to get a community center of our own. No one to tell us when and where we can have our language, culture classes, stories telling, monthly meetings etc.
Just a place to meet. I think we are the only native tribe in the metro area who does not have a community center, how sad is that.
Phones are answered by Sharon at her home office for MMDTC.
Love you all, I say in a humble way, women say Pidamaya ye – Thank You!
Tribal Chairwoman: Sharon Lennartson.
Vice Chairperson: Steven Renville.
Treasurer: Joseph Lennartson.
Secretary: Danielle Ross.
Historian: Greg Standmark.
Preserving, Protecting and Promoting the Dakota Culture for Future Generations.