Written by Cat Splete | Photos by Johnathon Moulds
For the first time since 2022, FireKeepers Casino Hotel and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi hosted Living Arts, an event specifically for employees of both entities to learn more about the culture of the Tribe they work for, fostering understanding through conversation and respectful participation.
Initially stewarded by NHBP Tribal Member Christine Lanning-Bën, Living Arts was a passion project for many of the Tribal Members employed by the casino in its early development stages. Tribal Elder and FKCH Vice President of Human Resources, Bryant Phillips, recalled his close acquaintance Lanning-Bën’s intentions for this event, and spoke to the connection between the Tribe’s government and gaming entities: “It’s important that everyone with the Tribe knows what’s going on at FireKeepers, and everyone at FireKeepers knows what’s going on with the Tribe.”
FireKeepers and NHBP employees were invited to participate in four of five different sessions over the afternoon, each engaging with a particular tenet of Tribal Culture. The topics covered included Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation, Tribal Sovereignty, and a Pow Wow session that explained the etiquette and expectations of non-Native attendees who attend NHBP’s Annual Pow Wow.
The Tribal Sovereignty presentation, led by Tribal Council Treasurer Rob Larson, and Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation session, led by Culture Specialist Kevin Harris II, both presented slideshows with in-depth explanations of the topics and ample room for Q&As.
Mike Medawis’ Pow Wow session followed a different format, with demonstrations of each type of Dance featured at Pow Wow, a Drum Circle, and explanations of these elements as part of the event. Each presenter drove home that while non-Native participants are guests to Indigenous culture and that the present-day considerations taken by Indigenous Peoples are rooted in years of trauma, mutual respect and general understanding of history and the context it plays makes all the difference in fostering unity between both groups.
“We’re working together for the same team”
-Mike Medawis
There were also two cultural activities for participants to enjoy: a beading craft and ShiShiBé, a Potawatomi word game akin to Bingo. Those who signed up for the craft session created their own beaded deer-hide keychain, aided and encouraged by Tribal Member Samantha Murphy. A camera projecting each step of the craft onto a screen at the front of the room and one-on-one guidance resulted in beautiful keychains in a rainbow of colors. The ShiShiBé session gave participants the opportunity to familiarize themselves with phrases in Bodwéwadmimwen, a language likely unfamiliar to those who are not Tribal Members or who didn’t grow up close to The Reservation. Prizes included Native-made products that tied in with the event’s lessons in supporting Native culture respectfully.
During the midday lunch break, during which the FireKeepers Banquets provided a delicious spread complete with frybread, there was a food-for-thought screening of NHBP’s Emmy-award-nominated documentary “Mnomen | Wild Rice “From the River Banks to The Table.” Having recently been named the Michigan State Grain, many may be only slightly familiar with the Mnomen {Wild Rice} that grows along riverbanks throughout the state. The film’s presentation of Mnomen’s cultivation and harvesting in the traditional lifeways of the Anishinabék both explained yet another cultural concept to Living Arts attendees, keeping their minds open for more learning from the after-lunch sessions that finished out the day.
An event like Living Arts is a unique opportunity, one that seeks to teach and share lifeways after years of forced assimilation that attempted to squander Indigenous culture for no reason other than it was different. Living Arts symbolizes not only the perseverance of the Tribe and Tribal Nations across the country, but also the ongoing efforts to share, teach, and remind others that “We are still here.”
To view photos from Living Arts 2026, click here.
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