When Deanna Porter was growing up on Milwaukee’s South Side, she knew every year would end with a powwow on New Year’s Eve.
The last New Year’s powwow held in Milwaukee that she remembers was in 2019.
“There’s such a disappointment and so much talk around the Native community in Milwaukee that we just said, you know what, let’s bring that back,” said Porter, who is Ojibwe and a first descendant of an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation.
The Milwaukee Intertribal Circle is bringing back the tradition by hosting a free and open-to-the-public New Year’s Eve Sobriety Pow Wow from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at Tthigwe Gymnasium, 3232 W. Kilbourn Ave.
Porter is president of the Milwaukee Intertribal Circle, a nonprofit dedicated to creating spaces for Native American community members to gather and reconnect with their culture in Milwaukee.
It will be a drug- and alcohol-free event. Porter said that’s common at any Native American culture-centered event, but it is also an option that community members want available on New Year’s Eve.
“Maybe they don’t want to go to the bars,” Porter said. “Maybe they don’t want to go to someone’s party and they’re looking for a place to ring in the calendar new year with their culture and be who they are.”
Lana Schocko, who is enrolled in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, said the powwow offers something different during the holiday season, which can be difficult and triggering for some people.
“It also helps reduce the isolation that our elders experience and it helps remind us that community and culture are powerful forms of healing,” Schocko said.
Powwow festivities
The event will feature a free feast and community potluck from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The powwow officially starts at 7 p.m. with a grand entry. Veterans enter carrying flags and eagle feather staffs, followed by dancers in regalia, Porter said.
Schocko and her father, Duane Dodge, will be taking on the honor and responsibility of being the powwow’s head female and male dancers.
“You’re the first one to be out there for every song, but you’re also representing your family, your community and making sure that you’re carrying yourself in a good way,” Schocko said.
It’s a meaningful opportunity for her dad, who just started dancing last year, Schocko said. Her sister is helping him put together regalia that represents where he grew up on the Menominee reservation.
“There are a lot of our elders out there that are still active and they’re not forgotten, and I think that he represents that part of the community,” Schocko said.
There will be activities, specialty dances, raffles and a midnight celebration with snacks before the event closes at 1 a.m.
People interested in volunteering can reach out via the Milwaukee Intertribal Circle Facebook group or website. The organization is accepting donations on Zeffy.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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