BRUNSWICK – Bowdoin College’s second annual Wabanaki Arts Festival will bring to campus 25 Wabanaki crafters and artisans, a drum group, a traditional Penobscot singer and a storyteller.

This family-oriented event, scheduled for Saturday, April 11, is a cultural experience in song and tradition, and handmade crafts and art will be offered for sale.

The festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the David Saul Smith Union. Admission is free.

A Wabanaki drum group, the Alamoosic Lake Singers, will play throughout the day, offering its acclaimed blend of traditional music and contemporary powwow drumming.

Watie Akin, a Penobscot tribal elder, will also perform traditional songs he has been collecting from the four tribal communities.

John Bear Mitchell, a well-known Penobscot storyteller, will recount traditional tales from Wabanaki culture.

Artisans will include basket makers from the Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Other crafters include a Penobscot birch bark artist, jewelry makers and root-club carvers. The root-club artisans will also offer a display that shows the history and different forms of this traditional weapon.

The Wabanaki Arts Festival has been organized to increase communication between Bowdoin and Maine’s four tribal communities as part of the college’s long-term commitment to encourage Wabanaki students to attend college.

For more information, call 725-3815 or e-mail lshaw@bowdoin.edu.

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