May 19, 2005

Mackinaw City, Mich. - Mackinac State Historic Parks will host a series of free Memorial weekend performances re-creating the 1763 American Indian capture of Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City. The performances will take place on the grounds outside present-day Colonial Michilimackinac, a reconstruction of the original fort located at the southern end of the Mackinac Bridge. Colonial Michilimackinac will be open, with regular admission charged.

Coordinated by Spirits of the North, a Mackinaw City community group, the event brings together over 400 historical interpreters from around Michigan to re-enact the surprise attack on the historic fort.  The pageant, in its 43rd consecutive year, is the longest-running free Memorial Day performance in the nation. Performances are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 28 and for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, May 29 and 30. Other activities planned for the weekend include a parade at 1 p.m. Saturday, musket-firing and knife-throwing competitions, 18^th-century fashion shows and a fireworks display.

Fort Michilimackinac was at the center of the vast Great Lakes fur trade in 1763, when American Indian dissatisfaction with the British erupted in a series of attacks, including the siege of Fort Detroit, called Pontiac's Rebellion. At Michilimackinac, local Ojibwa staged a game of baggatiway, or lacrosse, near the fort's gate. Warriors supposedly chasing an errant ball into the fort suddenly drew knives and tomahawks and quickly took the fort by force.

Colonial Michilimackinac has been reconstructed on the original site of the fort and fur-trading outpost. It features a dozen reconstructed buildings and structures, exhibits, video presentations, and historic interpreters dressed as British Redcoats, Colonial Villagers, French Voyageurs, and American Indians. Musket and cannon firing, open hearth cooking and native crafts are demonstrated. Colonial Michilimackinac is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, and will be open until 6 p.m. on May 28 and 29. Admission is $9.50 for adults, $6 for youths (6-17) and free for children 5 and under. Take exit 339 off I-75 North and turn left on Nicolet Street.

Mackinac State Historic Parks, a family of living history museums and parks in Northern Michigan's Straits of Mackinac region, is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Sites include Fort Mackinac, Historic Downtown and Mackinac Island State Park on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. The sites are accredited by the American Association of Museums. Visitor information is available on the Web at www.mackinacparks.com and by phone at (231) 436-4100.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries.