Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.

For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, the Berkshires are not simply a place to visit. They are ancestral homelands.

On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4, the Homelands PowWow returns to Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts for its second year, bringing members of the Stockbridge-Munsee community together with neighbors and visitors for two days of traditional dance, drumming, food, art and cultural sharing.

The Homelands PowWow was founded by enrolled Stockbridge-Munsee tribal members and Massachusetts-based allies to strengthen connections between Mohican people and their ancestral lands in the region. Proceeds from the gathering help cover travel and lodging expenses for tribal members making the journey from Wisconsin.

That distance is the result of generations of displacement. The Stockbridge Mohicans were forced from Massachusetts to New York in the mid-1780s amid mounting pressure on their land. Their displacement continued in stages westward, including to Indiana, before the tribe settled in Wisconsin in the 1820s and 1830s. Today, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians, is a federally recognized tribal nation based in Wisconsin.

Its connection to this region, however, has never disappeared. Mohican ancestral homelands encompass the Hudson River Valley and surrounding areas, including what is now western Massachusetts. The Homelands PowWow creates an opportunity for tribal members to gather on those lands again while sharing traditions with the wider community.

In 2025, the inaugural Homelands PowWow brought Mohican community members back to the Berkshires for a gathering organizers described as the first of its kind in the region in centuries.

This year’s theme, “Tending the Fire,” reflects an intention to make that return an enduring tradition.

“Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands,” organizers state on the event website.

The weekend is open to the public and will feature traditional dancing and live drumming, as well as Indigenous artists, makers and food vendors. Grand Entry, the ceremonial opening of the powwow, takes place at noon both days.

Among those helping organize the gathering is Shawn Stevens, an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and a Mohican language scholar who has served on the Tribal Language and Culture Committee and Historic Preservation Committee. Stockbridge-Munsee elder Ginger Stevens, a traditional dancer and longtime advocate for cultural preservation, serves as the organization’s Mohican travel coordinator.

Organizers are also careful to distinguish the nonprofit behind the powwow from the tribal government: Homelands PowWow does not officially represent or speak for the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council. Instead, its work is centered on creating opportunities for connection and helping Stockbridge-Munsee people return to their ancestral homelands.

For tickets, a complete schedule and more information, visit homelandspowwow.org.