About Rendezvous Days

Saturday evening dance.

NPS Photo / A. Hernandez

Rendezvous Days 2025 - Dressing the Fur Trade

Seeing over 300 reenactors in the historically recreated clothing is a joy for many who attend Rendezvous Days. This year the focus is clothing of Grand Portage's fur trade history.

 

Weaving a ceinture fléchée (arrowhead sash)

NPS Photo / GM Spoto

Grand Portage Rendezvous Days is Free and Open to the Public

Rendezvous Days 2025 - August 8, 9, 10

• Admission is free. Visitors are not required to wear period clothing. Come as you are!
• No vendors, demonstrations only
• Visit our Eating & Sleeping page for information about where to stay.
• Directions to the Monument from Duluth, Minnesota.
• No pets (except service animals) within the palisade (Historic Depot)

For more information:

General information and area map.

Questions? Please call 218-475-0123 or email us.

 

The Stone Bridge Singers open the weekend.

NPS Photo

Rendezvous Days 2025 Program Schedule

FRIDAY, August 8th

10 am: Stone Bridge Singers Drum Ceremony - Great Hall Lawn
11 am: Cornhusk Dolls/Voyageur Action Figures - Great Hall Porch
12 pm: Native Art from the Time of the American Revolution/ Michael Galban
1 pm: Thread Button Making - Workshop Tent
1:30: Visit a Seamstress/Shirt Sewing - Great Hall Porch
2 pm: Historic Camp Tour - Meet at Information Tent
2 pm: Kids' Bead Hunt - Historic Encampment
2 pm: Thread Button Making - Workshop Tent
2:30 pm: Block Print Fabric - Workshop Tent
3 pm: HIstoric Camp Tour - Meet at Information Tent
3 pm: Tartans & Kilts in the Fur Trade - Historic Encampment
3:30 pm: Camp Chore Challenge Contest - Inside the West Gate
4 pm: A Visit to the Dye Pots - Historic Encampment
5 pm: Monument Closes

All Day:

• Authentic Historical Garment Collection presented by “The Clothing Bureau” in the Great Hall
• Firearms of the Fur Trade with Mark Sage

 

SATURDAY, August 9th

9:30 am: Moccasin Roundtable Discussion - Workshop Tent
9:30 am: Kid's Scavenger Hunt - Historic Encampment
10 am: Rugged Voyageur Contest - Inside West Gate
10 am: The Rabbit-skin Blanket - Ojibwe Village
11 am: HIstoric Camp Tour - Meet at Information Tent
11 am: The Great Lacrosse Match - Great Hall Yard
11:30 am: Historic Garden Tour - Kitchen Garden
1:30 pm: Fingerwoven Sashes - Great Hall Porch
2 pm: A Visit to the Dye Pots - Historic Encampment
2:30 pm: Visit the Hatmaker - Hat Shop in the Great Hall
3 pm: Indigenous Dress in the 18th Century - Michael Galban
3 pm: Historic Camp Tour - Meet at Information Tent
4 pm: Over the Waterfall: Live Music - Great Hall Porch
5 pm: Monument Closes

All Day:

• Authentic Historical Garment Collection presented by “The Clothing Bureau” in the Great Hall
• Firearms of the Fur Trade with Mark Sage

8-10 pm: Live Music & Dancing, Open to all, Great Hall Lawn

 

NPS Graphic / GM Spoto

Special Programs

Native Arts from the Time of the American Revolution: A look at a rare European collection.

Indigenous Dress in the 18th Century: A comprehensive survey of surviving examples.

Michael Galban

Director of the Seneca Art & Culture Center at Ganondagan State Historic Site. An international expert of Native American material culture and art, he is a member of the board of directors of the Museum Association of New York (MANY) and worked as a consultant for various film and television projects. Michael is the author of a monograph on the historical art of Robert Griffing and has published broadly on Haudenosaunee material culture.

Original 18^th & 19^th Century Clothing by The Clothing Bureau

Thomas Shaw will display his collection throughout the weekend in the Great Hall.

Rabbit Skin Clothing & Weaving for the Indigenous North

Ashley Rave Shawanda (Ho-Chunk) will demonstrate and discuss the use of rabbit skin clothing.

Beefhide Souliers & Leather Aprons

Michael Tharp will demonstrate the rare skill of making leather souliers and botte savages, as well as leather aprons.

What’s in the Dye Pot & Traditional Dyes

Join Master Dyer Mary Silver as she presents a rainbow of colors obtained and learned through history and trial and error.

Thread Buttons, How Were They Made and Used?

Join Rob Jump as he makes and talks thread buttons.

A Visit to the 1797 Borradaille Hat Shop

Join hatmaker Austin Haney (Muddy River Hatter) as he discusses early hat making.

The Finger-woven Sash an Iconic Fashion of the Voyageur

Join fingerweaver Tiffany Christine Turner and friends as they demonstrate and discuss the history of one of the most iconic article of dress in the fur trade.

Tartans and Kilts in this Scottish Dominated Fur Trade

Kilt maker Isaac Walters of I.H. Walters Factotum will present the topic.

Walk a mile in his shoes…everything you wanna know about moccasins

Isaac Walters, David Turner, Karl Koster lead this discussion about traditional Indigenous footwear.

Historic Garden Tour

Deb Walker & Karl Koster talk about the historic heirloom vegetable garden.

Visit a Seamstress/Hand-stitching a Shirt & Block Printed Fabric

Sarah Reinke demonstrates fabric printing and sewing by hand.

 

 

 

 

Thank you to our generous sponsor!

If you’re interested in finding out how you can support Grand Portage National Monument, please visit our partner, National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation (NPLSF), at nplsf.org for more information. The mission of NPLSF is to provide financial support for projects and programs that preserve the natural resources and cultural heritage of all five national parks along Lake Superior. NPSLF is charged with their stewardship and is committed to their long term support, preservation, and enhancement.