A new permanent cedar drum arbor was unveiled Saturday at the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indian’s pow wow arena southwest of Dowagiac.

The Pokagon Band hosted its 24th annual Kee-Boon-Kein-Kaa Pow Wow Sept. 5-6.
Kein-Boon-Mein-Kaa is the tribe’s annual celebration of traditional singing, dancing and culture.

Traditionally at a pow wow, ceremonial dancers circle the drum groups which perform the songs.

The drum arbor is a structure to provide shade and shelter for the drums and marks the center of the dance arena.

The Pokagon Band’s construction of its new arbor satisfies a long-held goal to construct a permanent arbor for the pow wow grounds, replacing temporary arbors constructed each year in the past.

The arbor was designed by Wightman and Associates of Benton Harbor, working at the direction of the tribe and based on the design of past temporary arbors.

Construction was carried out by BDB Construction and by HIS Builder, both of Allegan County.

BDB is owned by Jim and Jenny Brown; Jenny is a Pokagon Band member.

HIS is owned by Lynn Dickerson.

The construction crew included Pokagon Band members Jacob Brown, Joshua Brown and Brad Brown, along with Caleb Dickerson and Matthew Verkade.

This is the third year the Pokagon Band hosted the pow wow on its own property, the tribal headquarters at Rodgers Lake.

The Band in previous years constructed a new grandstand and carried out other improvements to its grounds.

Construction of the new drum arbor represents one more stop in the band’s efforts to develop first-class pow wow facilities.

Pokagon Band’s pow wow arena is located at its Rodgers Lake headquarters, 58620 Sink Road, Dowagiac, west of M-51 between Dowagiac and Niles.