Ojibwe Puppet Program Coming to Great River Arts in Little Falls

LITTLE FALLS -- A unique puppet show and musical program is taking place in Little Falls this week.

Puppeteer Michael Lyons will be performing his traveling show Boozhoo Nanaboozhoo at Great River Arts on Thursday night.

Lyons is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and uses various art forms including puppetry, children’s books, comic strips, and coloring books to teach Native language, history, and culture with some comedy mixed in.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a hands-on puppet-making activity, and the performance will kick off at 7:00 p.m. with a presentation by artist Adrienne Benjamin, a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, who recently designed new signs for Little Falls area parks that now include Native history and language.

The event is free and open to the public. Masks are encouraged. The performance is made possible by a partnership between Great River Arts, the Great River Children’s Museum, and the Morrison County Historical Society.