Leslie Doxtater Secures Funding to Stage Wisconsin's First Two Spirit Pow Wow

Leslie Doxtater, a Two Spirit Oneida woman living in Menominee County, secured full funding to rent the Woodland venue after months of organizing to stage what she and collaborators describe as Wisconsin's first Two Spirit Pow Wow. The rental agreement for the Woodland removes a primary logistical barrier that had stalled the project through much of this winter.

On February 27, 2026, Doxtater finalized the funding package that will cover the Woodland rental, closing a fundraising effort she began several months earlier. The completed funding specifically targets venue costs, which Doxtater identified as the single largest upfront expense for a pow wow-sized gathering on Menominee County ground. Organizers had publicly framed the venue rental as the threshold issue for securing drummers, vendors, and cultural presenters.

Doxtater’s identity as a Two Spirit Oneida woman anchors the event’s cultural intent: the pow wow is being positioned to center Two Spirit people and histories that organizers say have been marginalized in conventional pow wow programming. Holding the event at the Woodland provides a single, accessible site in Menominee County where drum circles, social dances, and family-friendly programming can be staged under one roof, according to the organizers’ timeline completed with the rental funding.

The months of work that preceded the funding included targeted appeals to individual donors and local institutions, coalition-building across tribal and nontribal networks, and outreach to potential performers and caregivers. Securing the Woodland rental is described by Doxtater as a milestone that allows planning to shift from fundraising to logistics - contracting sound and stage crews, confirming head dancers, and setting arrival and rehearsal schedules for invited singers.

With the Woodland rental funded, Doxtater and her team will move next to finalize programming and public logistics in Menominee County, including outreach to nearby towns and tribal communities. The secured funding leaves the project poised to translate months of organizing into a public, ground-level event that organizers hope will be the first explicitly Two Spirit pow wow staged in Wisconsin.