One of the Lafayette area’s biggest festivals is going on this weekend: The Feast of the Hunter’s Moon. It is a celebration of the annual gathering that used to take place between the French and Native Americans at Fort Ouiatenon, about 4 miles southwest of West Lafayette on the Wabash River. The festival began in the late 60s as a class project of a high school history teacher. Since then, it’s grown to an event so big that it has to be scheduled around Purdue’s home football games — the local roads and hotels can’t accommodate both. Today is day two of the the event’s 40th annual occurrence.
The Lafayette Journal and Courier has some coverage and pictures from yesterday. The feast features period re-enactors and food and the like in an effort to take you back to the 18th century and give you an idea of the history of the place.
The Feast of the Hunter’s Moon was very well attended this year.
I enjoyed myself very much, but there was one very important group missing. There were only a handful of Native Americans at this years Feast.
I do not know why this was the case, and I for one hope that the Natives return next year. I am not sure if this was because of a date conflict with the “9th annual Indian Arts Expo” in Hobart, Indiana or something else.
The Feast of the Hunter’s Moon is a great festival, but without a good number of Native Americans, it is not the same.
Please come back.