Veteran shares reflections on Menominee Nation POW wow in Keshena

Menominee Nation veterans turned Woodland Bowl in Keshena into a place of service recognition and family memory, and one Air Force veteran said being invited as a guest of a tribal member made the three-day ceremony especially meaningful. The reflections shared from the Menominee Nation Veterans POW Wow captured more than a weekend gathering. They showed how the event gives local families a chance to honor military service through Menominee tradition, song, and community.

The Gathering of Warriors Powwow was held May 16-17 at Woodland Bowl on Fairgrounds Road in Keshena, on the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Reservation. Veterans of the Menominee Nation has said the gathering is a tradition more than a decade old, and the powwow has become one of the clearest ways the tribe publicly recognizes veterans in Menominee County and beyond. Past celebrations at the site have included MCs Joey Awonohopay and John Teller Jr., a Saturday flag-raising ceremony, a feast for dancers, singers, elders, visitors, and veterans, and free camping, showers, firewood, and security at the venue.

The organization behind the event is open to all veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or discharge status. That broad welcome matters in a county where military service often stretches across households and generations. Veterans of the Menominee Nation also uses funds and activities to support veterans, families, youth, elders, cultural programs, and care packages for Menominee service members who are away from home or deployed overseas.

The powwow also reflects the tribe’s wider identity. The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin says its history begins at the mouth of the Menominee River, about 60 miles east of the present reservation, and the tribe identifies five ancestral clans: Bear, Eagle, Wolf, Moose, and Crane. Those ties to place and kinship help explain why a gathering like this carries weight far beyond the arena floor.

That reach has extended to visiting veterans as well. In 2025, tribal veterans from the Puyallup Tribe traveled to Keshena, despite weather delays and a canceled flight, and still arrived in time to join Menominee veterans. They carried flags all weekend, were recognized alongside other veterans, and helped with a princess blanket tradition. The Puyallup visitors had attended the Gathering of Warriors Powwow for more than a decade, a sign that the Menominee celebration has become a lasting intertribal bond as well as a local tribute to service.