Stewart Indian School Pow Wow!

Every year our local Indian community holds an awesome pow wow at the historical site of the old Stewart Indian School.  The school operated from 1890 to 1980 and is now on the Historic Register.  The school is closed, but the site remains and it's a gorgeous complex with tons of huge trees, many beautiful stone buildings and a terrific self-guided walking tour you can take.

When I attended high school maaaany years ago nearby, we would play Stewart.  And let me tell you, while we could take them at volleyball, at softball they would whoop our asses hard.  Those girls could throw straight and true like nobody's business, and every.single.hit. they connected with was a home run.  EVERY ONE.  Our school baseball field was bordered by a steep incline lined in about 20 feet of rough-hewn granite rocks the size of your head, so every damned time you had to chase that ball into the stupid rocks, climb in and hunt for the damned thing while keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes.  Meanwhile the Stewart players would leisurely round the bases...another home run.  We learned to just take it for granted we'd be on the losing end of every softball game.

But back to the pow-wow!
It's fun to look at the pow wow website and see the family names of good friends I went to school with--the Toms, Rambeaus and Sams.  Good times...Unfortunately today it was about 112 degrees, so even with the shade from the big trees we were gasping for air and couldn't stay as long as we'd have liked to.  I plan on going back to take proper pictures of Stewart because it really is lovely. 

Luckily there was a wonderful snowcone booth there where you could get a snowcone that could feed a family of four.  Not to mention the fabulous, famous Navajo tacos with fresh fry bread made right there on the spot...we sat under a tree and gobbled it all up and grinned at each other in utter joy.

After that we walked around the various booths that had handmade items for sale and did some shopping.  I really liked the way this lady had her bracelets arranged.

And let me say at the outset that I don't care if the items for sale are *actually* made by a tribe member, or were made elsewhere and the tribal member is just selling them. As long as I'm supporting a tribe member it doesn't matter.  Just so they get the money.

The dancing took place in the center.  They had a mixture of recorded music, live singers and a drum circle that kicked ass.  We arrived in the middle of this dance so I don't know which one it was, other than it was mixed men, women and children.

The regalia was gorgeous.  When the kid was little and we took her to a powwow in southern California, she was entranced by the jingle dresses (the dresses with the dangling rolled tin cones that dance and jingle as you move) and the dancing, and was hot to learn.  Unfortunately we never did find someone to learn from, but that is something that may still happen as here the Indian community is much closer and more accessible.

I absolutely love this picture, for several reasons.  The dad dancing with his baby in the center, the little girl on the left with the 'Strong is the new pretty' shirt and the girl shawl dancing in from the right with such energy.

Just jaw-dropping regalia everywhere, from very ceremonial to fancy.

We had a great time, but after this we were just too wilted from the heat to stay longer and had to cut it short.  Next time!