Indians And Fry Bread And Good Friends, OH MY!

So this being me, I am going to write my Happy-October post NOW. The Halloween post is next... I mean, it's only mid-November, so we're good, right?

And ya'll that read this and know me know that it's been a bit crazy around here anyway... What with my budding business venture and all. (And yes, I did just use the word "ya'll" in a sentence. AHHHHHH, Nashville must be getting to me! :O)

Anyway, so we went to the Native American Indian Association of Tennessee's (NAIA) annual Pow-Wow this year, which was awesome. It was in mid-October, and was a lot of fun. I had never been before, but I'm so glad we went! It was a GREAT experience for the girls, and we had a lot of fun. We rode with some old friends and made some new friends, and just had a good day.

Going to this really brought back some memories for me, as I used to live in western Colorado, and while I was there I discovered that my step-Mom's family was one of the first to connect with the Navajo Indians in the early 1800's. Her great, great grandmother, Louisa Wetherill was the first woman to speak the Navajo language and preserve the Navajo culture, and as a young teen I had a strong interest in learning all I could about their family and the Navajos. I had not thought much about it for some time, but being at the Pow-Wow reawakened that interest. I can't wait to pass on what I have learned to the girls, although I think they'll need to be a little older to really appreciate all the history that is there.

I wish we could have gone back for the Grand Ceremony with the drummers, but it didn't work out that way. Maybe next year!

The decorated entrance to the teepee.
Inside one of the teepees.
We got to spend the day with the Butterfly and her sweet Mama, Miss Julie of When She Was Five. The Ladybug and the Butterfly are pretty close in age and all three of the girls love to see each other, so it was an adventure for them!

Practicing being little Indians... As IF they needed to practice!

The Ladybug in action. Love that expression.
Dreamcatchers.
Seeing the dreamcatchers led to a really great discussion about dreams and their symbolism and importance in Native American culture and in ours. Great homeschool moment! Yay!

Practicing with the dart gun.
The Ladybug and the Butterfly tried hard, but KayKay was the only one who actually hit the target with the blow gun. Should I be afraid? Hmmmm... But it was really neat that they let the kids try it. The demonstration this gentleman gave was fantastic, as well. We learned a lot about different kinds of dart guns and what they were used for, and MAN could those darts go far!

After the dart gun demonstration, a young boy of the Crow (I think they said Crow, but don't quote me!) tribe who composes and plays the most beautiful flute music. He was AWESOME. He played for about 45 minutes, and we all LOVED it. His music was really unique and uplifting. The girls, of course, all decided that it was a good time to practice their dancing, and that was equally as entertaining to watch. 

KayKay doing her "Indian Dance."


The Ladybug dancing to some wonderful flute music.
All three girls had a blast dancing together.
After we finished listening to the wonderful flute music, we wandered around to a few of the tents where they had some very interesting wares set out for sale. Some of the artists were less than accommodating, but one lady in particular was VERY kind and had a fascinating way of painting the beautiful clay pots that she hand makes. She was of the Acoma Tribe of Sky City, New Mexico. Her painting is AH-MAZING, and is done using the traditional methods that their tribe has used for nearly a thousand years. There was so much symbolism in her artistry, and we spent a good while talking to her and her husband about her art and their culture. It was a really great learning experience, although I admit that I was more taken with it than the girls, but that rather surprised me, as KayKay has been wanting to learn about pottery and pottery painting for some time now. And of course, the Ladybug was only interested in trying to wreak havoc. :O) But it was still neat. 

Painting supplies.

Here she is using a rock to grind out the paint. The brush is made of the stems of the yucca plant, and the paint is made from a specific rock that is very finely ground and then mixed with water.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any good images of her (really GORGEOUS) pottery, Ugh. You can see an edge of one of the pieces in the first photo, but I wish that I had been able to get some good ones of her work.

And of course, there was fry bread for lunch. Yummmmmmy!!! It was so good. Not quite  as good as the homemade fry bread I had made by my step-Mom's family (learned straight from the Navajos, of course!) in Arizona some years ago, but still SO GOOD.

At the end of the afternoon, we were able to get an encore performance by the young flute player. He was so sweet, and SO talented. 

Getting ready to start.

KayKay dancing to his music. So fun!
It was a GOOD day. :O) I'll end with a silly picture of the three little Indians all together. We had fun! Thanks Miss Julie, for inviting us!

3 comments:

  1. We went last year. I hate we missed it this year! Looks like you had much nicer weather than we did. :) http://livingandlearningnow.blogspot.com/2009/10/playin-at-powwow.html

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  2. Looks wonderful, Kristen!! We had hoped to go and couldn't because something came up last minute. Will definitely plan for it next year.

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  3. Oh, Sherry, it's too bad you guys missed it! We would have loved to see you! We did have a great time. Yikes, it does look like it was a cold day for you guys... We were lucky to get fantastic weather.

    Thanks, Christy! I wish you guys could have made it, too... Maybe we can plan a "field trip" for this next year! :O)

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