The Crawford County Forest Preserve Oversight Committee is planning the first Annual Native American Dance Festival. The first time we host the event will be September 17th 2011. We hope to grow the celebration into a week long festival.

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There will be 3 separate performances on Saturday, September 17th:

• The first performance will begin at 11:00am until 12:30pm
• The second performance will begin at 1:00pm until 2:15pm
• The last performance will be at 2:30pm until 4:00pm

Ottawa Chief, John Ballard, of the Oklahoma Native American Dance Troupe will explain the custom of each dance. Other Indians provide drumming and demonstrations of their heritage dances. The event will be hosted at the Forest Preserve and be designed for the general public.

In the middle of the Forest preserve property, adjacent to the running water of Big Creek. There is an open clearing that is surrounded by woodland. The location is typical of the setting native Indians would have chosen to build their villages. The Forest Preserve, with volunteer labor provided as an Eagle Scout project, will build an Early Eastern Woodland Indian Village.

Construction will include using saplings from the wooded areas to build 2 round houses and a long house. Construction will be of all natural materials. Creation of the Indian village will be the backdrop for the Forest Preserve's Native American Dance Festival. The village will provide opportunities for school age children and the public to experience first hand all of the day to day activities that Indians depended upon for their survival.

In addition to the Indian ceremonies, the Forest Preserve oversight committee has asked other exhibitors to provide demonstrations relevant to the same time period. We want to include activities such as black smiths, basket weaving, candle making and hide tanning.

We will also be asking other volunteer organizations to provide food booths at the festival.

We have begun publicizing the Annual Native American Dance Festival in Crawford County. Committee members have met with school officials to schedule the grade school assemblies. As the event gets closer, we will advertise on local TV stations, community radio stations and submit informational newspaper articles publicizing the dance to surrounding counties.

It is our intention to develop this event into a week long festival that draws visitors to Crawford County from all over the country. We are beginning the Native American Dance Festival with a limited number of Indian Tribes from Oklahoma. All of the Tribes being represented are original to the State of Illinois. As the event grows, we have 125 acres that can be utilized to host additional Indian tribes and bring in other demonstration displays and vendors.

After each performance the actors will be introduced, ask the public if they would like to have the festival again next year, and to please make a donation at the Pavilion as they leave.