The 2026 Family Reunion Festival at the Citizen Potawatomi headquarters is quickly approaching, offering a variety of games and competitions for all. See a list of events below.
Art competitions
Tribal members of all ages and experience levels can enter the art competition.
Tribal members ages 16 and older can enter one piece into either the amateur or the professional categories of the adult art contest. (The professional category is for artists who have been paid for the type of work they enter. The amateur category is for those who have never been paid to create the type of art they enter.)
Submissions can include all types of modern and traditional art, and the art does not have to include Indigenous themes.
For professional artists, the winner will be selected by a vote of Festival attendees taken in the foyer of FireLake Arena. First place wins $300.
Amateur artists can enter one piece of art into either the photography/painting category or the category for other mediums. Winners of the amateur art contest will be selected by a professional artist, and prizes are $300 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third place.
Registration for the adult art contest is Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the FireLake Arena. All entries must be the work of the artist without assistance and should not contain AI-generated material of any kind.
Prize winners will be announced during General Council, where the money will be awarded.
All entries for the adult art contest must be picked up by 3 p.m. After that time, the art will be left unattended.
For Tribal members ages 15 and younger, art contests are available for four age groups: ages 5 and younger, ages 6-9, ages 10-12 and ages 13-15.
Each participant may enter one piece of art, and art can be submitted on Saturday between 9 and 9:30 a.m. at the South Reunion Hall. All pieces must have been created before Festival but within the past three years.
First, second and third place winners will receive a gift card.
Hand Games
Hand Games is a traditional Potawatomi competition that goes back generations. Each Family Reunion Festival, teams compete on Friday night at the pavilion.
To compete, all you need is a team of seven people. Two hiders from one team each hide a colored bead in one of their hands. The other team’s picker attempts to guess where the beads are. The hiders must stay in the circles painted on the ground but can still use tactics such as dancing and singing to distract the pickers.
Once the judge calls for hands forward, the picker uses a stick to indicate one of four guesses for the location of the beads. The hiders reveal the location. If the picker guesses correctly, their team gets a point. If they do not guess correctly, the other team gets a turn.
Teams are eliminated until only one remains. The winning team receives $100 for each of the seven team members.
If you do not want to compete on a team, an auction takes place beforehand, where you have a chance to bid on which team you think will win. Each team has a flag that is sold in the auction. The winning team receives 25 percent from the auction, with the remaining 75 percent going to the person who bought their flag.
Find more information about hand games on the Hownikan Podcast at cpn.news/handgamespod.
Dance competition
During the powwow, there will be group, social and competitive dances. Competitive dance categories will include men’s traditional, men’s fancy/grass, women’s traditional and women’s fancy shawl/jingle dress.
When dressing for the dances, women should have legs covered by ankle-length skirts and should carry a shawl and wear a shirt that covers the shoulders. Slacks and a ribbon shirt are appropriate for men to wear. Everyone should wear closed-toe shoes.
For more information about powwow etiquette, see the story in the May Hownikan edition on page 24.
Other competitions
There are several other competitions to enter throughout the weekend, so be sure to check your schedule. You could be the next winner of the fry bread making contest, or maybe your family will win one of the sports competitions. There’s softball, golf, volleyball, dominoes, checkers, chess, three-on-three basketball, archery and horseshoes. Children can enter a coloring contest, chess and checkers tournament and youth softball throwing.
Due to construction around the pond, there will be no fishing competition this year.
Prizes for some of those competitions can range from $100 for first-place individuals to over $1,000 for first-place teams.
Look for more details in the Festival registration packet.