Homelands PowWow in Pictures: Stockbridge-Munsee Celebrate on Native Land After 200 Years Away

For the first time in over two centuries, members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe of the Mohican people, whose homelands once spanned much of the Hudson Valley and Berkshires gathered on ancestral ground for the Homelands PowWow at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, October 4 and 5. What unfolded was far more than a festival, it was a sacred act of remembrance and renewal.

Under clear autumn skies, dancers in vibrant regalia moved in circles intended to reconnect generations, while the steady heartbeat of drums carried across the hills. Elders, youth, and visitors joined together to witness the long-awaited homecoming. The weekend’s songs, prayers, and stories embodied the sentiment voiced by powwow organizer and cultural educator Shawn Stevens: “The people may not know us, but the land has never forgotten us.”

The event brought together tribal members who had traveled from the Stockbridge-Munsee's reservation in Wisconsin and beyond, along with other indigenous people, and neighbors from across the region eager to learn and participate. Around the outside of the ceremonial dance circle, artisans sold cultural craftwork and indigenous food.

The Homelands PowWow was a vivid reminder that the Mohican presence remains in the soil here. These photographs capture moments from a weekend of lasting cultural significance to our regional community.

Jingle dress dancers preparing for their dance. Harmony Estrada in white is an enrolled Abinake Odanak from Quebec.

A dugout canoe made of a large white pine log on display. Miguel Wandering Turtle Walks With No Fear, a member of the Nipmuc Tribe, says it took seven people seven days to make the boat, a yearly tradition.