Local Native American tribes will be celebrating their culture with traditional powwows and other festivities over the summer. The public is invited, and anyone with an interest in Indian culture is likely to enjoy these events.
Kootenai Powwow and Feast: The Kootenai Tribe in Bonners Ferry will have a public powwow, feast and fashion show July 25 at the conclusion of a three-day general assembly for all the bands in the tribe. Call 208-267-3519 for information.
Kalispel Powwow: This annual event is Aug. 1-3 at the Kalispel Tribe Reservation in Usk, Wash., 40 miles west of Sandpoint. Members will perform traditional war dancing and play stick games. There will be arts and crafts food booths, plus a baseball tourney and fun run. 509-445-1147.
Coeur d'Alene Tribe Cataldo Pilgrimage: Members of the tribe travel from afar Aug. 15 to the historic Cataldo Mission east of Coeur d'Alene for an annual dinner and exhibition dancing. Events begin at noon. Call 208-686-1800 or 800-829-2202.
Farther away, Journey Past: The Homecoming celebrates the early fur trade era in this region. Encampments Aug. 21 to 24 at Chewelah, Colville and St. Paul's Mission near Kettle Falls will feature reenactments of the fur traders' arrival in the Colville Valley. Call 509-684-7251.
And all year long the Nok·OSH·Kol Heritage Trail is open and free to the public. This interpretive trail four miles north of Newport, Wash., tours through a site on the banks of the Pend Oreille River that was a winter village for the Kalispel and their ancestors as long as 4,000 years ago. And the last 2,500 years, it was also used in the summer to process camas bulbs in underground earth ovens.
The one-eighth mile long trail winds through Pioneer Park Campground. To reach the trail, drive west on Highway 2 to Newport and continue two miles north, cross the Pend Oreille River and turn left on Leclerc Road, and drive another two miles to the campground. Or call the Newport Ranger District at 509-447-7300.