there are parallel stories to tell but today i just have to try and give you an image of our weekend...
friday was FINALLY the day! a few times this summer, we thought we were going to go somewhere and at the last minute plans changed...the most recent one? legends...and i have to tell the truth, i was desolate at our change of plans i had SO looked forward to this...
so FINALLY...friday, august 31 shows up and all day long i held my breath because now i know we don't always get to choose these things...4:00 rolls around and we hop in the car with everything we might need and take off for WELLPINIT!!! YAY!!!
the drive was no less than amazing as is always our experiences...but like i said, this is totally a different story...texted noee to let him know we were on our way and he actually thought he might come up and JOIN us!!! that was fun too...sorry you didn't make it noee, we thought of you the whole time!!!!
we got to Wellpinit FINALLY and first jumped out and Brother had the tent up in no time at all...off we went with recorder in hand:-)
first stop, grand entry at the pow wow...an array of colors and sparkles and beadwork and intense beauty like no other!!! the smell of frybread intermingled with dust and hopes and strawberry lemonade!!! MMMMMMM!!!!!!!
walk through the vendors a TINY bit but not too interested because where are we going?
we can hear them already!!! songs of power and fun and grandmas with such smiles you can't even imagine!!! yay!!! throw 'em over!!! the first night we played a couple games, won a little lost a little and off we went to bed, tired, dusty and oh so glad to really be here!!!
saturday we woke up and took off to town for showers rather than wait in line...stopped and did some "old ladyin'" at the goodwill and picked up a few odds and ends we'd missed on our way up...
back to the grounds and there it was again those SONGS...went back to the stickgame arena with our chairs a BUNCHA cigarettes, new tape and ready to go! met up with our Niimiipuu brothers and enjoyed their raucous laughter before getting down to serious game playing met up with our Niimiipuu brothers (also bought a set of bones from 2-A...the sparkly ones...no, not the SPORTY ones...they're SPARKLY...) and enjoyed their raucous laughter before getting down to serious game playing...we listened to some kick ass songs and finally picked a game to join in on...it took THREE HOURS to get the money needed to match the other side! HERE we go though and look...row upon row of people...all from different tribes, many old timers and a few new players but what are we doing? we're joining into one big powerful song to help the bone handlers hide those bones!!!!! beautiful intense songs with echoes from powerful women...and when the pointers missed it was a victory for the whole team...
so...stickgame you see is a life lesson...the songs are strong and give hope for a good hide...you greet each other like aunties and uncles and brothers and sisters, there are no strangers in stickgame...no one sits alone for long and the smiles are genuine and joyful...
we are still basking in the glow of the experience and we're grateful beyond expression for getting to go!
friday was FINALLY the day! a few times this summer, we thought we were going to go somewhere and at the last minute plans changed...the most recent one? legends...and i have to tell the truth, i was desolate at our change of plans i had SO looked forward to this...
so FINALLY...friday, august 31 shows up and all day long i held my breath because now i know we don't always get to choose these things...4:00 rolls around and we hop in the car with everything we might need and take off for WELLPINIT!!! YAY!!!
the drive was no less than amazing as is always our experiences...but like i said, this is totally a different story...texted noee to let him know we were on our way and he actually thought he might come up and JOIN us!!! that was fun too...sorry you didn't make it noee, we thought of you the whole time!!!!
we got to Wellpinit FINALLY and first jumped out and Brother had the tent up in no time at all...off we went with recorder in hand:-)
first stop, grand entry at the pow wow...an array of colors and sparkles and beadwork and intense beauty like no other!!! the smell of frybread intermingled with dust and hopes and strawberry lemonade!!! MMMMMMM!!!!!!!
walk through the vendors a TINY bit but not too interested because where are we going?
we can hear them already!!! songs of power and fun and grandmas with such smiles you can't even imagine!!! yay!!! throw 'em over!!! the first night we played a couple games, won a little lost a little and off we went to bed, tired, dusty and oh so glad to really be here!!!
saturday we woke up and took off to town for showers rather than wait in line...stopped and did some "old ladyin'" at the goodwill and picked up a few odds and ends we'd missed on our way up...
back to the grounds and there it was again those SONGS...went back to the stickgame arena with our chairs a BUNCHA cigarettes, new tape and ready to go! met up with our Niimiipuu brothers and enjoyed their raucous laughter before getting down to serious game playing met up with our Niimiipuu brothers (also bought a set of bones from 2-A...the sparkly ones...no, not the SPORTY ones...they're SPARKLY...) and enjoyed their raucous laughter before getting down to serious game playing...we listened to some kick ass songs and finally picked a game to join in on...it took THREE HOURS to get the money needed to match the other side! HERE we go though and look...row upon row of people...all from different tribes, many old timers and a few new players but what are we doing? we're joining into one big powerful song to help the bone handlers hide those bones!!!!! beautiful intense songs with echoes from powerful women...and when the pointers missed it was a victory for the whole team...
so...stickgame you see is a life lesson...the songs are strong and give hope for a good hide...you greet each other like aunties and uncles and brothers and sisters, there are no strangers in stickgame...no one sits alone for long and the smiles are genuine and joyful...
we are still basking in the glow of the experience and we're grateful beyond expression for getting to go!
