Wisconsin Historical Society
The show re-creates a longtime tradition while increasing visibility for Native art forms.
Nostalgia for some, a fresh and unique art form for others, the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial returns to Wisconsin Dells for a single performance on Aug. 22.
From 1923 to 1988, generations of tourists enjoyed nightly presentations of authentic song and dance presented by the area’s first residents, the Ho-Chunk people.
“The original Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial took place at a natural amphitheater on the Wisconsin River,” says Melanie Tallmadge Sainz, director of the Little Eagle Arts Foundation, which is organizing the event.
Tallmadge Sainz is a former arts educator. Ho-Chunk herself, she’s steeped in the lore of the ceremonial. “My mother stopped dancing the summer that she was pregnant with me,” she recalls. “She had danced for like 30 years, every summer, before that.”
The new Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial Reawakened will be a fundraiser for the Little Eagle Arts Foundation, whose mission is to serve as an incubator for new and emerging Native artists. It will also benefit the Friends of the H.H. Bennett Studio.
Henry Hamilton Bennett was a pioneer photographer whose images portraying the Dells’ natural rock formations popularized the area as a tourist destination in the late 19th century. His studio, in downtown Wisconsin Dells, has been preserved as a museum by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
“H.H. Bennett was particularly interested in Ho-Chunk culture, as expressed by the large number of photographs he took over many years of members of the Ho-Chunk community,” says Jennifer Kolb, Wisconsin Historical Society Native American liaison. “Several of Bennett’s descendants were involved in producing the Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial over several decades.”
“Reawakened” is a multimedia show, using Bennett’s images and presented at the Crystal Grand Music Theatre. Tallmadge Sainz calls the show an “intertribal experience.” In addition to Ho-Chunk, the performers — some them award winners at national powwow competitions — are members of tribes including Apache, Ponca and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwa. Director Lance Tallmadge served as emcee at the original Ceremonial for 15 years.
“Of course, the songs we’ll be using have been around for hundreds of years,” notes his sister, Tallmadge Sainz. “We as a Ho-Chunk people have always been in the hospitality business, since 500 A.D.” But, she adds, the performance incorporates contemporary influences, too.
The celebration will also include a Native arts marketplace. Visitors will be able to view demonstrations, meet artists and purchase authentic American Indian/First Nations art. Items featured will include traditional bead and porcupine quill art, basketry, leatherwork and woodcarving, along with contemporary drawing, painting, ceramics and jewelry. Native food will be available.
The Little Eagle Foundation, named for Tallmadge Sainz’s father, aims to promote visibility and expand markets for Native American artists.
Another goal, says Tallmadge Sainz, is “to get people to recognize that we are still here in terms of our art. There might be fewer makers, but we are still doing it. We want to address those folk art forms that are near extinction, and find the makers, teach classes and educate our youth about the process.”
The Native arts marketplace at the Crystal Grand will be held from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22. The ceremonial begins at 3 p.m.
