Ashland, Billings, and St. Xavier JV's at Crow Fair
About one week after landing in Montana, we were invited to Crow Fair. It was probably the coolest thing we've gotten to do so far. Crow Fair is the largest Northern Plains Indians celebration, and one of the largest pow wows in the country. It is held annually in the middle of August; many families set up camp and stay there for over a week. I think it's the highlight of the year around here.
Teepee capital of the world.
We spent two days there. I got to sleep over in a teepee!! It was exciting.
Inside the teepee.
Kathleen and I at the teepee we stayed in!
Each morning starts with a parade, where Indians (from 1 years old to 100, it seems!) dress up in traditional outfits, decorate their horses or trucks, and ride in the parade around the fairground, competing for prizes given out for best/most decorated.
Blake, our new friend from Ivan's camp, riding in the parade.
One of the best parts of Crow Fair was being welcomed to Ivan's family's camp. (Ivan Small is the superintendent of schools at St. Labre, and I guess he invites the JV's every year to stay at his camp. Since there were so many of us this year, they split us up among different staff members' camps.) Families are very big and very close here, so at Crow Fair a lot of families reserve a big area that everyone piles into.
Sitting under their canopy playing card games with the little kids running around and playing, it reminded me a lot of Bonny Eagle, with the whole family gathered in one place. I kept asking different people there, "What's your favorite part of Crow Fair?" and almost everyone said it was spending time with family. Reminded me of home and spending time with my own family :)
At first I felt a little weird being a big group of strangers intruding on this family's camp, but they were very welcoming and hospitable to us. We had a lot of fun playing with two of the little boys in the family, Josiah and Blake.
Josiah and Blake casually riding their horse around the camp.
Chris walking with Blake to the arbor (the center of camp where there are food and craft vendors and a large circle for the powwow dancing in the middle.)
I also sat with three older women one afternoon (Ivan's sister and two of her friends) and watched as they worked on sewing a traditional elk tooth dress. I really wanted to hear about their traditional craft and learn everything about how they were making the dress. Just getting the chance to talk to this woman and hear some of her stories felt like such a privilege, which I was so grateful for.
Skillful hands
The second day we went down to the river in the afternoon with Josiah & Blake... it was such a scene of chaos and wonderful fun! The river was full of children EVERYWHERE, jumping off 10-foot cliffs and running and splashing all around, and there were maybe 3 adults in the whole vicinity. When we got there I felt like I should play the lifeguard... I couldn't believe all these little kids had no one watching them while swimming! But the best part was that no one was really concerned. It's just such a different culture here. The whole weekend kids were running wild around Crow Fair and no parents seemed to be phased; but then again everyone knows/is related to everyone here so there's probably a much bigger sense of security. I just thought it was so funny. But anyways I've never had so much fun splashing around in a river!
One of my favorite parts was the powwow dancing, which is a main part of Crow Fair. It started early in the afternoon and lasted all the way into the night. The dancers wore beautiful outfits, shawls, headdresses, and regalia.
Part of the grand entry procession
Drum circles played the songs for the dancers the whole time.
We also went to the rodeo while we were there. I'd never been to a rodeo (I know, with ALL the rodeos around Boston and all... ha ha) so it was kind of interesting... for about 10 minutes. I guess I'm not the biggest rodeo fan. I did enjoy trying to learn how to lasso, though!
This 3-year-old girl showed us how it's done.
Kathleen looking confused.
Chris got it!
A really special part was getting to witness Ivan's grandson's naming ceremony. They were celebrating his first birthday and invited an age old friend and respected elder to name their grandson. The naming of a child is a very significant ordeal in Crow culture. They asked the man a year in advance, and he spent the year finding the right name; researching names of important people that had gone before and also checking to make sure no others currently had the name he would give the boy. So we witnessed baby Brandon getting his Indian name- Moonlight Boy. They set up a space where they laid down a buffalo hide and set out four posts in a circle around it, bearing the colors of the universe. He said several prayers in Crow and blessed him with respect to each of the pillars of the universe. It was very ceremonious and really special to celebrate with them.
The last evening there we offered to help Ivan's sister (who seemed to be the care taker of the camp) prepare dinner. So we cooked (they set up intense outdoor kitchens at their camps!) and cleaned up and served the whole camp. I was glad we were able to do that to show gratitude for their hospitality. Later on we said farewell and the older woman told us "Now you know where we stay, and you are always welcome here."
What a way to start to the year!
No comments:
Post a Comment