In 1971, a sewage treatment plant in Dayton wanted to expand…
…but excavations led to the discovery of artifacts and remnants of a Fort Ancient Native American village.
Thanks to public opinion and the city, the land was preserved and a museum was built…
…with an interesting exhibit of the Fort Ancient culture…
…that discussed their lifestyle, diet and culture.
Outside, in the back, a section of the village was reconstructed…
…creating a nice setting for the true reason I came here…
…the SunWatch Native Flute Festival.
Located next to the Indian village…
…and hosted by the Miami Valley Flute Circle…
…it’s obvious why people were here…
…they came to enjoy Native flute performances (Matthew Thoma)…
…as well as shop in the market…
…where it was easy to find Native American flutes (White Hawk Flutes)…
…flutes (Thunder Horse Flutes)…
…and even more flutes…
…many of which were constructed beautifully…
…and took on the shapes of animals…
…after much time and attention to detail.
But there were also other instruments, such as guitars and diddley bows (Jon Norris Music)…
…didgeridoos and drums…
…as well as Native American inspired apparel…
…assorted gifts…
…beautiful art (Turtle Island Images)…
…and flute music CDs (Jonny Lipford), many of which performed at the festival.
And, between the shopping, performances, and village walks…
…festival goers could enjoy smoothies (Smoothie King)…
…bison burgers (Brock Masterson)…
…and Indian tacos.*
* = this was what I really wanted and the oil still wasn’t ready when I had to go. Fortunately, I did return to a different festival here a few years later and got the taco, which you can see at https://ohiofestivals.net/keeping-the-tradition-pow-wow/