Colonial Michilimackinac - Mackinac State Historic Parks

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05/11/2007

Memorial Weekend Performances Recreate 1763 Capture of Fort Michilimackinac

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

Coordinated by a community group, the Fort Michilimackinac Pageant brings together over 400 historical interpreters from around Michigan to reenact the surprise attack on the fort. The pageant is in its 43rd consecutive year, and is the longest-running free Memorial Day performance in the nation. Performances are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 26 and for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, May 27 and 28. 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 Native American 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 who chased an errant ball into the fort suddenly drew knives and tomahawks and took the fort by force.

Colonial Michilimackinac has been reconstructed on the fort’s original site. It features 13 buildings and structures as well as exhibits, video presentations, musket and cannon firing demonstrations, and historical interpreters dressed as British redcoats, colonial villagers, and French voyageurs. Colonial Michilimackinac is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but will remain open until 6 p.m. on May 26 and 27 to accommodate pageant attendees. Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for youth (6-17), and free for children 5 and under.

Mackinac State Historic Parks is a family of living history museums and nature parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac and is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Association of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park, and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. Visitor information is available at 231-436-4100 or on the web at www.MackinacParks.com.

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