TRAVERSE CITY -- Luke Stuck played lumberjack as he and siblings, Caleb, 4, and twin sister Elise, 6, sawed through a log as part of the Heritage Day Old Fashioned Picnic.
"It was really hard," Luke, 6, said, as he examined his handiwork. "There were a lot of knots in it."
The sawdust flew at Hannah Park on Sixth Street along the banks of the Boardman River, where logs were once sent down the waterway to build the "Perry Hannah House," now Reyonds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home.
The National Cherry Festival Heritage Day event was one of several Tuesday that celebrated Traverse City's history, as well as the people and cultures that made the region what it is today, said Patti DeAgostino, executive director of the Heritage Center.
"If you don't have a sense of your past and a connection to your community, you can't move forward," DeAgostino said.
About two dozen festival-goers stopped by the park for the Old Fashioned Picnic and to browse exhibits that honored the spirit of Perry Hannah, the "Father of Traverse City;" Andrew Carnegie, whose donations made a city library possible; and Con Foster, of the Con Foster Museum, DeAgostino said.
"(Con Foster) believed back in the '30s that the natural beauty of this place draws people in, which is still such a relevant idea today," DeAgostino said. "Lessons of the past can be portals to our present."
In addition to log cutting, presented by Rob Burb from Hartwick Pines State Park and Logging Museum, the picnic also included an interactive civil war hospital reenactment by Traverse City residents Deb Downey and Sue Klinger, and the Maritime Heritage Alliance boat the Gracie L.
Liz Kuester of Traverse City said she brought her two children, Philena, 4, and Tait, 10 weeks, to the picnic not only for the history, but also because it was one of the more quiet events.
"Last year we came and loved it," Kuester said. "It's off the beaten path and it's a little more low-key, which is especially important with younger kids."
Other Heritage Day events weren't as muted.
Hundreds of spectators were drawn to the Open Space, where dancers from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and about a half-dozen other tribes donned regalia and chanted in unison to celebrate their heritage.
American Indians in the Grand Traverse area, known also as Anishinaabek, trace their ancestry to American Indians who migrated from the eastern seaboard thousands of years ago. The tribe's culture centers around the intimate relationship between nature and man, the importance of family and community, and a spiritual higher being, said Irene Otto, tribal delegate and elder.
Those elements were on full display Tuesday in both the colorful Pow Wow dances and through a wide assortment of jewelry, animal skins, feathered ornaments and other items for sale at a nearby tent, she said.
"The Pow Wow is kind of like showing the other people what we take great pride in. We want people to know that we are still here and thriving," said Otto, 81. "We have lost our language, just about, and we have lost some of our culture. We want to bring it back and make the young people proud of who we are and what we believe in."
Rodney and Cheryl Woodring, of Traverse City, took the day off work to attend the Pow Wow and take in the American Indian event, something they believe reflects the tribe's cultural ideals while looking toward the future.
"Getting back to nature, that's what it's all about," Rodney said. "It's all about family, being together and staying together. They are keeping that alive by adapting to the changes."
The tribe's changing culture, which includes casinos and other businesses, definitely has helped to preserve the past, said Kewadin resident and tribal member Steven Antoine.
"It's great because years ago we could hardly put things together with the economic conditions" of the tribe, he said as he clutched a Red-tailed hawk fan before opening ceremonies.
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