Every fall, The Grand Fête of Chez le Canses hosts a gathering of 18th Century reenactors from across the Midwest. Join us...for that one magic weekend we will step outside of time together. Today, with all its concerns, does not exist--only yesterday is real. The sights, sounds, and scent prove it.
The Scottish Magistrate's cabin will be the hub for the British encampment, and the French will center near the trade house and tavern, where frontier folk gathered for fun and entertainment and all the latest news. Between the two, the Native camp will be redolent of cooking and busy with fires and work.
At the Fête will be representatives of the Natives, French, English, Scottish, German, Irish and Spanish peoples who inhabited the eastern half of North America from 1720 to 1785. Particular emphasis is on the Natives and French who were the earliest citizens of western Missouri and the Kansas City area.
Here, those who fought in what some consider America's first First World War--known to the history books as The French and Indian War--will walk these forests again. Rogers' Rangers, Highlanders and longhunters loyal to England's King George II, and Coureur des Bois (woods runners), Milice (Militia) and French Marines loyal to France's King, Louis XV, will be portrayed. In between these two superpowers were the Native American nations, whose trade, loyalties and aid were sought by both, and whose way of life was changed by the outcome of this and later conflicts. And here and there, frontier folk--settlers, and craftsmen and women--go about their business, blacksmithing, woodworking, trading, and minding that tavern.
But perhaps there are still those question lingering in the back of your mind: "Just what IS a Fête, and what does Chez les Canses mean?" Well, Fête is the French word for festival or gathering. Chez les Canses, or "home of the Kansa," was the early French name for the community of the Kansa Indians which thrived at the mouth of the Kaw River long before 1850. Since the focus of our celebration is primarily Native, French, early Kansas City and the 18th Century, we felt La Grande Fête Chez les Canses said it all very nicely.
Brought to you this year by the Middle Waters Group, and in part by the
Jackson County Parks & Recreation
"Please join us in the Middle Waters Group online, for discussion, event
information, news, sharing of research, ride sharing and so forth.
--Kate Johnson, list owner"
