Grand Portage Rendezvous Days is Free and Open to the PublicIt is 1797, the Rendezvous is in full swing, and over a thousand people work and linger within the palisades and surrounding area. North West Company agents, clerks, and partners gather to conduct business and celebrate their good fortune. They arrive by canoe with the voyageurs bringing trade goods from the east, and furs from the north. Anishinaabe, Cree, and other Native families gather by the shore to trade and reunite with friends and family, all right here in Grand Portage. During Rendezvous Days, costumed interpreters reenact 18th century life of the fur trade era. Park rangers and volunteer reenactors provide you with a unique view into the hustle and bustle of Grand Portage over 220 years ago. Rendezvous Days - the second weekend in AugustGrand Portage Rendezvous Days is a celebration where friends and family return year after year to attend and participate in events held in the community. Held on the second weekend of August, this event is one you do not want to miss! Music, dancing, craft demonstrations, and hands-on workshops ensure an exciting visit to Grand Portage National Monument.
For more information:Questions? Please call 218-475-0123 or email us. Rendezvous Days Pow WowThe Pow Wow, hosted by the Grand Portage Band, is located just up the road within walking distance of the Monument.
NPS Photo Rendezvous Days 2024 - August 9, 10, 11 - Specials & WorkshopsRendezvous Days 2024 Information and Program ScheduleClaire’s SewingSalon visit with Winnipeg tailor Claire Sparling. Bring any projects, patterns you may be working on, or questions concerning historic clothing. Golden Galette Returns!It is back! One year only! Participants grab a bag of flour and salt, head back to their camp to bake, and return hours later with their galette (a flat, round cake). Prize awarded to the best traditional historic based bread. The winner will receive the coveted Golden Galette Award! Magic and Stories with the Voyageurs!The return of the Story-telling, Magic, and Entertainment Extravaganza by Fort William Voyageurs Bates & Roy!! Historic Brewing Roundtable DiscussionPresented by John Hayes, Isaac Walters, Leif Halvorson, Thomas Abthorpe, and Paul Ellenbecker. Living history reenactors share their experiences and discoveries researching and experimenting with brewing beer. Tea in the Fur TradeJoin Kora Boisvert as she talks about tea drinking in the 18th century, in the fur trade and here at Grand Portage. Fish of Grand Portage Bay“The best of everything and the best of fish” John McDonald," Grand Portage, 1791. Listen from a local fisherman about what fish swim in our waters. What can we find locally in Lake Superior, neighboring lakes and rivers, how they are best prepared and how they taste. Alexander Henry’s Pembina Pickles in Sap!On September 19th, 1804, Henry wrote in his journal: “I gathered my cucumbers and made a nine-gallon keg of pickles, having plenty of excellent vinegar from maple sap, little inferior to that imported.” Join famed historic foodways interpreter Kiri Butter of Thunder Bay as she talks about the incredible fur trade story of pickles in the interior and vinegar making. The Long SkilletOur favorite blacksmith, Robert Rossdeuscher, will hammer and forge, discuss and demonstrate the long handles often seen on frying pans in the fur trade. Though not a common item, these do appear in journals. Spruce BeerKnown by some Indigenous people as “Jingo-Babo”, or by French Canadians “le petite biere,” there are many references to this beverage made small or at times alcoholic. Was it vital against scurvy? Military use? Sit among the spruce and learn from John Hayes about spruce beer from Henry Hudson’s exploration, to Benjamin Franklin's home, to 1850s Irish settlers in Northern Wisconsin. . . Go Pound Corn!Join staff in the Ojibwe Village to pound corn, some from the 2023 historic garden featuring historic heirloom King Phillips and Eight Row Flint. Prepared corn dishes will be on display (bread, gruel, and lyed) What’s Growing in the Heirloom Gardens?Learn about this year's crops in the historic kitchen and Three Sisters gardens. Leg-Bone Apple CorersThe scores of apples shipped into the fur country were first cored and hung to dry. In Montreal, early apple orchards produced fruit, likely prepared by the wives and daughters using a standard leg-bone corer. In this workshop much of the corer is complete. Participants file and sand them to finish your latest kitchen gadget. Making the Birch WhiskIn this class students will clean, remove bark, and assemble a birch-whisk, the perfect tool for whipping egg whites and other kitchen operations. Birch imparts no flavor into food and is the number one choice for toothpicks and popsicle sticks, the use of these in a colonial kitchen was common. Spills! And the use of the Spill PlaneNeed some spills to start your fire, light your candle or your pipe? Come visit Winnipeg Carpenter Paul Shipman, as he guides you through use of a spill plane. Simple to learn and make yourself a handy product for your camp or fireplace. Tinsmithing Workshop: The Cookie CutterJoin Grand Portage Tinsmith Paul Cummings and make yourself a cookie cutter! Foraging in the Fur TradeCattails, nettles, burdock, berries and more! How common was foraging among the Europeans involved in the fur trade? Did they learn local plants from the area's Indigenous people? Did voyageurs eat and harvest mushrooms? Join longtime forager and re-enactor Chris Felton as he delivers the basics of this ancient task. The GREAT Kitchen Take-OverFor many years we have been blessed and very lucky to have our kitchen interpreted over Rendezvous by La Compagnie du Hivernants du St. Pierre, a re-enactment group from the Twin Cities. Yes, they will amaze again. Two other groups also will have a chance to “show their stuff.”
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Last updated: August 19, 2024