Friendship Botanic Gardens will host a FREE event honoring our region's first residents and gardeners.? Celebrate the rich and enduring legacy of Native American Heritage along the very same river banks and forested valleys where the Potawatomi hunted and fished hundreds of years ago.
Stroll through the Native American garden featuring plots of native and heirloom plants -- many of which are edible and/or medicinal. Guests can also experience the prairie restoration garden, a plot recreating a small patch of the grassland habitats that once covered vast swaths of the Midwest.
Visitors will also have the chance to experience Indigenous Peoples’ traditional gardening, trapping, cooking, and crafting techniques first-hand through presentations and demonstrations by local experts. ?
Free craft activities for children will be available in the Native American Garden.
At noon, Henry Boulley, Ojibwe, New Buffalo, will start the fire in a traditional manner. He will then speak to the public about his ancestors, customs, foods, ceremonies, and what's happening in 2018 in the Native American world. Jude Rakowski, Garden Volunteer, will do open fire cooking using wild foods at 1:00 pm CDT. Cindy Deardorff, Kouts, will display wild seeds and speak about Native American Gardening. At 2:00 pm Lorraine Sauder, Elkhart, will entertain children and adults with stories....  More >><< Less