Annual Tuscarora picnic draws huge crowd

LEWISTON – It was a beautiful weekend for a community picnic for the Tuscarora, who reside near Lewiston, New York. It is not known how many years now the picnic and field day has taken place but some community members say it began around 1840 but was not held during the Second World War. 

For the first 100 years the Picnic was held at the National Grove in the wooded area east of Walmore Road near the Tuscarora Reservation. According to archival records, “The Picnic was designed to celebrate the Nation and to include our non-native friends and neighbors. During the early days, the picnic included foot races, lacrosse games and performances by the National Silver Cornet of Tuscarora. People would bring lunch and they would eat with their family and relatives.”

And, in 1939, “The Picnic moved to its current home north of the Tuscarora Indian School on Walmore Road. The program has evolved to include an entertainment program, native foods, and vendors selling arts and crafts. The first Tuscarora Princess Contest was held in 1964 on Friday evening, expanding the picnic to two days. Race volunteers increased the Picnic program by holding a 10k race and 2.5-mile fun run on Saturday morning in 1980. Recently the Picnic has expanded more by hosting the Ben Cusick Memorial Horseshoe Tournament, Iroquois Smoke Dance Competition, and the Margaret Williams Memorial Tuscarora Raised-Beadwork Competition.”

The two-day event now includes a wider music selection, more activities and vendors, and a variety of traditional foods and drinks. This year, Six Nations award-winning Pappy Johns Blues Band played their best hits. To this day dedicated volunteers run the entire event.

The Smoke Dance Competition is always a big hit at the annual event as competitors dressed in full Haudenosaunee regalia come from all over including Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, and Cayuga territories in Canada and the United States. Following the Smoke Dance was the hand drum competition where singers sang their best-made songs. Three singers this year came all the way from Manitoulin Island.

But the biggest event at the picnic which seems to get larger and larger each year is the ancient Haudenosaunee game of Fire Ball which is a traditional medicine game but has been sanctioned by the traditional leaders of the Tuscarora Nation to be played between the young and old men. The game is played on Friday and Saturday night. This year there were around 100 competitors made up of men, young and old, while around 1,500 spectators surrounded the perimeter of the field to watch. The Tuscarora Picnic and Field Day is held every year on the Tuscarora Reservation the weekend before the Annual Border Crossing Celebration.

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