Festival to explore culture, customs

Like a taste of native food? Pecans and grits will be among the tribal foods to sample at the American Indian Expo today.

The expo is a drumming, dancing educational exhibition of the culture and customs of Lowcountry and Carolinas tribes, put on by tribal members in a native community setting.

A traditional dance takes place every 15 minutes. Drum circles, storytelling, corn husk doll-making, tomahawk-throwing demonstrations and artifact exhibits are among the events.

"It's just a big, blown-out community festival. It tells the public that we are still here, we still exist, and we still practice our culture," said Teresa Gore, of Ladson, of the Santee tribe.

Gore is director of the Morgan Allen Platt Foundation, a nonprofit agency established to research, educate and archive the historical and contemporary contributions of American Indians native to South Carolina.

The foundation hosts the festival along with College of Charleston, The Citadel, the Medical University of South Carolina and Charleston School of Law.

The festival will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Charleston Maritime Center, near the South Carolina Aquarium at the Cooper River end of Calhoun Street. It is free and open to the public.