TUSCUMBIA – A celebration of the culture and traditions of the indigenous people who once inhabited North Alabama is planned in September offering two days of educational and free family fun in downtown Tuscumbia.
Oka Kapassa: Return to Coldwater is set for Sept. 13-14 with activities taking place in and around beautiful Spring Park in downtown Tuscumbia.
The Oka Kapassa: Return to Coldwater Festival is a free family event featuring Native American heritage, entertainment and education through hands-on activities and demonstrations.
Sept. 13 is school day at the festival for area students to attend and learn about North Alabama’s Native American heritage. Approximately 1,000 students, from as far away as Walker County and southern Middle Tennessee, typically attend.
Members of the Poarch Creek, Alabama’s only federally recognized tribe, will present a special cultural history event at 5:30 p.m. Additional events lined up for the evening include a program of Native American music by Arvel Bird (Paiute) and a presentation of Tuscumbia’s history as it relates to Native Americans. Trolley tours of the Tuscumbia witness sites of the Indian Removal Period will be available at 5 and 6:30 p.m. These events will be held at UNA on Sixth at 114 W. 6th Street in downtown Tuscumbia.
On Sept. 14, festivities get underway at 10 a.m. with grand entry set for 11 a.m. Special crafts, fancy and traditional dance demonstrations, storytelling and music are all on the agenda and festival goers will have the opportunity to shop and purchase authentic Native American artwork and crafts. There will also be some hands-on activities for festival goers of all ages.
Oka Kapassa also welcomes American Indian cooks who will prepare and cook foods that were developed by their ancestors.
- Juanita Gardinski and brother Billy Thompson (Choctaw) are returning to Oka Kapassa to serve delicious and authentic Native American foods such as buffalo stew and burgers, fry bread, Indian tacos, fish and roasted corn. Gardinski will also demonstrate bead work and share Choctaw culture with festivalgoers.
- Traveling from her tribal homeland of Ada, Okla., Gina Brown (Chickasaw) plans to cook traditional pashofa, a stew combining pork and cracked corn. Cooked in a cast iron pot over an open fire, it is left unseasoned, allowing the person eating it to season to their own taste.
- Mary Newman (Eastern Cherokee) will demonstrate traditional outdoor cooking of the 1800s, preparing foods in cast iron and clay pots over a campfire.
Arvel Bird’s “Celtic Indian” returns to Oka Kapassa this year. His musical brand is a reflection of his mixed-blood American Indian and Celtic heritages. With his violin, fiddle, Native flutes and Irish whistles, Arvel weaves a powerful tapestry of music and stories; it’s a performance not to be missed.
The Coldwater Stagecoach Stop, living history log cabin at 301 S. Dickson Street, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 14.
Oka Kapassa concludes at 6 p.m. Sept. 14. Festivalgoers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Admission is free.
For more information, call Colbert County Tourism at 800-344-0783 or 256-383-0783 or visit the Oka Kapassa Festival-Return to Coldwater Facebook page.
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