New Bedford's first annual Powwow is Saturday as mishoon demonstrations continue
Hartman Deetz and Annawon Weeden are demonstrating the traditional burn-and-scrape method used to hollow a pine log into a dugout canoe.
NEW BEDFORD New Bedford's first annual Powwow will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Fort Taber Community Center, as a related series of public canoe-building demonstrations continues through Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Community Boating Center.
The powwow runs from noon to 5 p.m. at 1000A S. Rodney French Blvd. It comes during a week of Indigenous cultural programming that opened Wednesday with the first public session of the mishoon build at the boating center.
Powwow at Fort Taber
Iron River will serve as host drum, with the Yootay Singers as invited drum. The program also names head dancers, an emcee and an arena director.
The event is titled the 1st Annual New Bedford Powwow. Its program centers on Indigenous culture, history and community, with the canoe project at the boating center continuing on other days through Tuesday.
Fire and scraping shape a dugout canoe
At the Community Boating Center, Wampanoag artist and educator Hartman Deetz is leading the construction of a mishoon, a traditional dugout canoe. Local Indigenous artist Annawon Weeden is also demonstrating the work.
The builders use fire to hollow a pine log over seven to 10 days. The burn-and-scrape method has been practiced by Indigenous peoples of New England for generations.
For Wampanoag and other Indigenous peoples of the region, waterways were the original highways. Mishoons provided a way to travel and connect communities. The public build is intended to teach and carry forward those skills and cultural practices.
Public sessions at the boating center
Visitors can watch and learn, join in, and hear stories and histories from the artists. The program invites people to see, touch and smell the process. Food demonstrations will also be offered at selected dates and times.
Saturday's powwow falls between the Friday and Sunday canoe sessions. No canoe session is scheduled for Oct. 24, the day of the powwow at Fort Taber.
The remaining public sessions at the boating center, 1641 Padanaram Ave., are Thursday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 6 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 23, from 1 to 4 p.m. Sessions follow Sunday, Oct. 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 4 to 6 p.m.
The first session ran Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. The center is posting schedule updates under @cbcnb.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Facts verified against the Community Boating Center project page and Explore New Bedford event listings. Photo author and license confirmed through Wikimedia Commons. Dates and weekdays checked against a calendar. No outlet is a source for this story.
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Sources (4)
- Mishoon Burn at Community Boating Center | Explore New BedfordEvent listing: Oct. 21 to 27, 2026; Community Boating Center, 1641 Padanaram Avenue; artists Hartman Deetz and Annawon Weeden; pine log hollowed with fire over seven to 10 days; public participation and food demonstrations; all five public session dates and times; powwow Oct. 24 from noon to 5 p.m. at Fort Taber Community Center. Read Oct. 21, 2026.
- Building a Mishoon at CBC | Community Boating CenterOrganizer project page, posted Sept. 24, 2026: Wampanoag artist and educator Hartman Deetz leads the build; traditional mishoon dugout canoe; burn-and-scrape method; Indigenous cultural context; public observation and learning; project held in conjunction with the first annual Powwow. Read Oct. 21, 2026.
- 1st Annual New Bedford Powwow | Explore New BedfordEvent listing: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, noon to 5 p.m.; Fort Taber Community Center, 1000A S Rodney French Blvd; Iron River as host drum; Yootay Singers as invited drum; cultural program and connection to the mishoon build. Read Oct. 21, 2026.
- Fort Taber Main | Wikimedia CommonsPhoto record only: Schlitzer90, own work, taken May 29, 2012, CC BY-SA 3.0; original image URL and license confirmed through the Wikimedia Commons image record. Read Oct. 21, 2026.
