Feast of the Hunters’ Moon is a weekend festival and historical reenactment held on a weekend in October since 1968, at the present-day site of

Fort Ouiatenon Fort Ouiatenon, built in 1717, was the first fortified European settlement in what is now Indiana, United States. It was a palisade stockade with log blockhouse used as a French trading post on the Wabash River located approximately three miles ...

, a replica 18th century French military and trading post near West Lafayette,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Traditionally, the Hunters' Moon is the full moon in October, following September's Harvest Moon.

Site

The Feast is held on the grounds of the Historic Fort Ouiatenon Park, on the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

. The blockhouse is a replica of the original

, which was the first fortified European settlement in what is now called

."Blockhouse Museum" Tippecanoe County Historical Association
/ref> The fort served as a French

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

and was located approximately one mile downriver from the replica."The Ouiatenon Preserve" Tippecanoe County Historical Association
/ref>

Program

During the festival, participants reenact the annual fall gathering of the French and Native Americans which took place at Fort Ouiatenon in the mid-18th century. Participants dress in the garb of the 18th century French soldiers, settlers, and Native Americans who lived in this region. Food vendors sell traditional period foods such as rabbit stew, voyageur stew, and

venison Venison originally meant the meat of a game animal but now refers primarily to the meat of antlered ungulates such as elk or deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, ...

sausage. The program also includes music, marching, dancing and reenacted military maneuvers.

Musical performances

As part of the event, various musical acts perform, including Native American drummers, historical

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

performers, French folksingers and period

fife and drum corps A Fife and drum corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums, and (sometimes) rope tension bas ...

Living history presentations

The event includes

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...

s featuring period characters from the 1700s to educate visitors about the lives and culture of the period. One historical interpreter presented a

Delaware Indian The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...

who first served as a scout for the French and whose people lived along the Wabash River in the 1700s and co-existed peacefully with the French at the outpost. Others play traders and

gunsmiths A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

, such as "Pierre Rolletof" of French Scots-Irish descent who traveled along the Wabash River trading a range of items, including guns, and also gunsmithed as he traveled. Other reenactors have demonstrated various period trades and crafts, including a chairmaker who built

Windsor chair A Windsor chair is a chair built with a solid wooden seat into which the chair-back and legs are round- tenoned, or pushed into drilled holes, in contrast to standard chairs (whose back legs and back uprights are continuous). The seats of Windsor ...

s to order, spending 40–45 hours per chair.

Size and production

In 2004, the annual event drew over 8,000 participants and over 60,000 spectators. The

Tippecanoe County Tippecanoe may refer to several places or things in the United States: * The 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana * A nickname for William Henry Harrison (U.S. President March 1841–April 1841) from his role in the battle ** Tippecanoe and Tyler t ...

Historical Association, cooperating with the Tippecanoe County Parks Department, presents the event on a weekend in late September or early October. The annual event ran for its 44th year in 2011. 2017 marked its 50th anniversary and the 300th anniversary of the fort. The event was cancelled for 2020 but resumed in 2021.http://feastofthehuntersmoon.org/ Official web site Retrieved 11/5/20

References

External links

* {{coord, 40, 24, 23, N, 86, 57, 50, W, region:US-IN_type:event, display=title Festivals in Indiana Tourist attractions in Tippecanoe County, Indiana Recurring events established in 1968 1968 establishments in Indiana Folk festivals in the United States Music festivals established in 1968