Calendar
Bozho nikanek (Hello friends) - I hope you can join your Potawatomi family and friends and attend one or more of the events below and otherwise celebrate our heritage and traditions. For any District #2-specific events that require an RSVP, please call my toll free number 888-849-1484 or email me at ecarney@potawatomi.org.
Saturday, February 1, 2025
CPN District 2 Beading Circle/Meetup. 12 00 pm to 2 30 pm EST. District #2 resident and jewelry maker Sierra Waterman-Wells/Senajewen and other DMV-local District 2 beaders will be gathering to bead together and visit. I will be hosting folks at Saltbox, 4700 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA (it's an interesting shared office/warehouse space). This is a bring your own materials and lunch event. I will provide the space and snacks!
Friday, June 27 through Sunday, June 29, 2025
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Family Reunion Festival. The Honored Families for 2025 are Bourassa, Burnett, Melot, Navarre, Peltier, Vieux, Wamego and Willmet. CPN members and their immediate family households are welcome. The Family Festival is always held during the last full weekend in June. The General Council elections are decided during the Festival, with in-person voting on Saturday before General Council. I hope to see many of you there!
Monday, July 28 through Saturday, August 2 or Sunday, August 3, 2025 [check back to confirm!]
Potawatomi Gathering 2025. Hosted by Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Indians/Gun Lake. Check back for more information, or visit Gun Lake's website, gunlaketribe-nsn.gov/. The first part of the week will be a Language Conference. Cultural presentations, craft workshops, dancing, recreational, sporting activities and other traditional activities start Thursday. I am planning to attend.
Monday, October 13, 2025
Indigenous Peoples' Day. This day recognizes the long history of Indigenous stewardship and contributions prior to Christopher Columbus' arrival to the Americas to present day.
Saturday, early to mid-November 2025 [Date to be announced]
Annual District 2 Fall Feast. 10 30 am to 2 30 pm. We will gather in the Social Hall, Little Falls Presbyterian Church, 6025 Little Falls Road, Arlington, VA 22207 (littlefallschurch.org/). Bring favorite dishes (with recipes, if you'd like) to share. I will provide the turkey and a vegan main dish, along with beverages. We will visit, work on a cultural craft together, and share a family meal. Children are welcome! The craft will be appropriate for children 10 and up with one-to-one adult supervision. RSVPs are requested -- email or call me, please. And wear your mocs ahead of Rock Your Mocs 2024 -- see below!
November 9 through November 15, 2025
Rock Your Mocs 2025. Choose one day or the whole week of November 9 or the whole month of November to wear your mkesinen (moccasins) — the idea is to celebrate with and to honor our ancestors and indigenous peoples worldwide. The original/main day will always be November 15th. To participate, wear your mkesinen, take a photo or video, add the hashtag #RockYourMocs and upload to social media. You’ll be helping to create an online photo album for the world to see and enjoy, and that will underscore that #WeAreStillHere.
Friday, November 28, 2025
Native American Heritage Day. U.S. Public Law 111-33 designates the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day of each year as Native American Heritage Day.
Saturday and Sunday, December 6 and 7, 2025
Native Art Market, National Museum of the American Indian. Come meet Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island and Central and South America. The market will be held in Washington, D.C. and New York, N.Y. I plan to attend in Washington. Please reach out if you plan to go too!