Northern Wisconsin Ojibwe Tribe Looks To Build New Arts Center

Lac Du Flambeau Band Looks To Raise $3.6M For New Facility

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A northern Wisconsin tribe is trying to raise $3.6 million for a new cultural arts center it hopes will serve as a link between the past and future for native expression.

The Lac du Flambeau tribe demolished the old Waaswaaganing Indian Bowl last fall to pave the way for the new center. Indian Bowl board member Melissa Doud said the site has been a place where the tribe has gathered to dance and sing and celebrate tradition since the 1950s. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was even inducted into the tribe there in 1965.

Doud said the center would educate youth and visitors about tribal traditions, arts and more.

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“What we wanted it to do is serve as a place that preserves not just our culture, but to have all the tribes of Wisconsin. There’s 11 different tribes, and so we want to have bits and pieces of those cultures in there as well,” she said.

The center would be a place for artists to exchange ideas and pursue professional development. Doud said the tribe has raised around $1 million so far.

Watch the final dance held at the old Indian Bowl before it was demolished here.