Ziigwan Powwow honors Indian education community

The Cloquet Middle School gym was filled with the sound of footsteps, voices and beating drums Saturday, as nearly 400 people gathered for the annual Ziigwan (Spring) Powwow.

Teresa Angell, Cloquet American Indian Education Program director, said attendance was great, with 11 drums, more than 120 registered dancers and a dozen visiting royalty from other schools and communities.

"This was the sixth annual powwow for Cloquet Schools and is a celebration to honor our students, staff and program," Angell explained. "We are thankful and fortunate to have supportive parent committees, dedicated staff, funding from AGE to age and assistance from the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School."

The royalty contest crowned a new Princess, Layla Nickaboine, and named Daicin Savage as returning Brave. Layla is an eighth-grader at CMS and Daicin is a second-grader at Washington Elementary School. Contestants were graded on academics, behavior, attendance, speech and dance.

"Cloquet Schools American Indian Education Program is extremely proud and humble to have these students hold such a high honor," Angell said, adding that the new middle school was a beautiful facility for hosting the event.

New bilingual Ojibwe/English signs were also on display at the powwow, the culmination of a joint project between the entire CMS sixth grade and local artist Sarah Agaton Howes, who specializes in Ojibwe floral designs and other fabric art. Students worked with Howes to understand Ojibwe floral designs and to research plants and Ojibwe words in creating digital plant drawings using the Brushes app. Then Howes used a more sophisticated computer program to compile and connect the digital plant images into 22 different signs, which will be displayed at CMS for years to come.