The Lansing City Committee of the Whole voted unanimously Sept. 22 to award a $1,000 community fund donation to the Anishinaabe Friendship Center to support its annual traditional powwow.

The powwow is a free, public event that organizers say draws participants from across the upper Midwest and Canada and serves as a cultural gathering for the local Indigenous community. The council’s action amends an initial $500 community-funding request to $1,000 after a councilmember suggested increasing the award.

Organizers Samantha Vave and Asia Washington told the committee the powwow revives a long-standing community gathering and helps sustain an effort to reestablish an urban Native center in Lansing. “This powwow is a free event. It is open to the entire community,” Samantha Vave said, adding that last year’s attendance ranged “from 3,000 to 5,000 people, not all at once, but throughout the weekend.”

Vave and Washington asked the council to consider waiving or reimbursing Adato Park rental and utility fees, saying the park is the ancestral powwow grounds and that combined rental, water and electricity costs ran “upwards of $5,000” last year. They said the Anishinaabe Friendship Center is a new, small nonprofit and that the community-fund allocation would directly underwrite event costs.

Council Member Hussain suggested raising the standard $500 community award to $1,000 and the body approved an amended motion. Vice President Carter moved the amended resolution for the Anishinaabe Friendship Center’s annual powwow in the amount of $1,000; the motion passed unanimously.

Organizers invited the public to the weekend event and described logistics: Gannon Ramp parking will be free, grand entry ceremonies are scheduled at noon on Saturday and Sunday (with a second grand entry Saturday evening), seating for elders is available and attendees are asked not to touch regalia. Organizers also noted the event includes intertribal dances, a children’s play village and a candy toss for kids.

The council did not take immediate action on the fee-waiver/reimbursement request; members said administrative steps would be required to pursue waiving or reimbursing park rental and utility charges and that councilmembers could also consider using office-holder accounts to provide supplemental support.

The committee’s action records the $1,000 grant and encourages ongoing coordination between organizers and city administration on possible fee waivers or reimbursements.