A Powwow in Terlingua, Texas

Sunday, December 2nd, 2007

Spirit, as tired as he is from this weekend, is propped up… his ears are like radars and his eyes are having a hard time containing themselves. We are baking some "Spirited Doggie Treats" tonight! (yes, 2 g’s) We even received a nice "thank you" for offering them to our readers and their four legged buddies. And I was thinking, as "cooking/baking" is a fun I have missed, if my Chef friends could only see me!!! I think they would be jealous. Totally self contained, only a Post Office is needed… and there will always be one around somewhere. I have been testing this "pumpkin" recipe on the Terlingua dogs! We have a lot of friends now… Spirit is learning how to share… and even the most hard to please dogs have liked it… wanting more! I will now start looking into other recipes also… peanut butter treats?

We returned from the Powwow this afternoon, after also checking out the "run for stupidity" this morning, a Terlingua exclusive… and last night after the first day of the Powwow was the "Bug Art Show" up the hill at "The Boathouse". I have not even gone through all the pictures yet, about 1000 of them these past couple days, they will be up as this goes on. I have to admit that I had never been to a Powwow. Sometimes I wonder what have I done all my life as I also had never been to a Rodeo if you remember, in Oregon. What a great time it was in Halfway! You need to know that I enjoy my own Blog. Yes, I do go back in the Archives and look at the pictures, read some of my past writing which seems to have changed, for the better or worse, these past months. I read the comments you have send me, I read the emails I have filed since day one! It has been interesting having the ability through the photographs to transport myself back toward some cherished moments… There is a big list now which only keeps getting longer.

What else can I say besides the fact that I have always had an affinity toward the Native Americans Indians. As my own Armenian Heritage has been persecuted early on this last Century, as we have been dispersed ourselves all around the World loosing our own land, I can never help, specially traveling and living on the road as we do, thinking about their own feeling toward the vast lands which some day not too long ago was theirs. And, as it is with our own Heritage, the new generation is rapidly losing their hold on their own roots. It is the reason why many tribes are now represented at the Powwows happening throughout the country. It is their only Social Gathering left following dances and customs started centuries ago. Those events of feasting, drum music and dance are also attended, as it was these two days, by non-Natives.

The attendance was not great. I truly expected a bigger crowd. Many had driven all the way from San Antonio at great expense, not only in fuel but also in motel room. Powwows have an etiquette all must follow, including provocative clothing being forbidden, so is alcohol. The same with picture taking. No pictures were allowed during the Gourd Dances, and even when invited into the circle it is customary to ask permission to photograph. The main area is a circle called the Arena which is blessed before the ceremonies. The only entrance faces East and non-Natives can only enter it by invitation. The drummers sit in the center, they are the Heartbeat of Mother Earth. The drums acting as an intercessor of the spiritual realm brings harmony and balance to the spectators and participants.

Sometimes, as people have an affinity toward each other created by this invisible space among ourselves, I found myself getting to know most of them. Lunch was being prepared outside the Circle and I was invited to join them. I had many questions, and truly they did also, maybe knowing as they did many years ago, that still today there is someone roaming the land, in a much more modern world and ways, but with the same Love and Respect for Mother Nature. But the questions were not asked, I don’t think there was a need for it, I think we just understood each other with much mutual respect. Words at times are not needed, there is an invisible language that sets itself between minds and is understood. I would have not missed this event for anything. I did not know the power of their presence till then. It is hard to describe. They are such proud People, as I am toward myself, there are no words really to define the feeling emanated, only the word "strong" comes to mind. It was "strong".

I think the pictures speak for themselves…

There was a very strong Patriotic sense throughout the day as all Veterans, Natives and non-Natives, were called in by the MC for the Grand Entry following the Gourd Dances

A picture is sometimes worth a thousand words! I do however like these words I read yesterday.

"One evening, and old Cherokee told his grand son about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said ‘My son, the battle is between two wolves which live inside us all’. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘which wolf wins?’. The old Cherokee simply replied ‘the one you feed’.

More on the Powwow, the Art Bug Show and the "stupidity race" next time. In the meantime…

You all be well….

Check out the "Spirited Doggie Treats" page and also the "Postcards" page. The postcards will soon be on white folding note cards with envelope, themselves packaged in a crystal clear envelope.

We are under deep appreciation toward the readers that have send in a contribution helping this website’s expenditures. For those who have not, continue enjoying the site, pictures, recipes, and if you feel it’s worth $1 a month, the contribution button is above, snail mail is below…

Ara Gureghian   853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245   Naples, Fl 34108

 

Ara and Spirit

Share and Enjoy:
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • RSS
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Technorati

4 Responses to “A Powwow in Terlingua, Texas”

  1. TexasShadow Says:

    “The old Cherokee simply replied ‘the one you feed’.”

    My father, whose grandmother was Cherokee, was told that story by his father, and related to me when I was young. The difference was that the battle within was not ‘good versus evil’, but the ‘dark and the light’. I once asked him why and he told me because before the Natives were ‘Christianized’, the concept of ‘good and evil’ were more accurately ‘dark and light’. Because both exist, just like night and day. Both must be acknowledged as an intricate part of life, just like life and death. They both are a part of everything that exists. The truth is learning to distinguish between the two and how to deal with them both. One cannot exist without the other. Whereas in our modern Westernized society and thought, we try to extinguish one, but ultimately destroying the other as well.

    I later learned how similar this is to Taoism and Zen Buddhism. And physics. Thus, to me, is more representative of reality. And Truth.

  2. Lisa Says:

    How wonderful that you had the opportunity to attend a pow-wow! I have attended several up here in Schenectady, NY and I must agree, the experience is moving to say the least…Funny story, I learned that my german husband can throw a hatchet and hit a target dead on center better than anyone at a pow wow…

    I used to meet with the Spiritual Warrior Circle in Saratoga, NY at the Petrified Sea Gardens, but due to storm damage the entire property is closed down…so sad…I miss learning about my roots! I often think about getting closer to my roots because my mom is Tuscarora and her great great great great (i think it is 4 greats, I’ll have to ask) grandfather was sold as a slave by early settlers, and my great great grandmother eventually settled in the Niagara Falls area when their tribe was displaced… the Tuscarora are now part of the Iroquois Nation…Mom’s grandmothers passed down the stories for all the generations to remember…my mother rejected how she was raised, probably to give us kids a better life, it must have been hard to live on a reservation in the 40’s and 50’s so i can kind of understand…anyway I just started drinking my coffee and I’m rambling…do you want a copy of my peanut butter dog cookie recipe? Maybe you can tweak it and make it better.

  3. Susan Sanchez Says:

    Stumbled across this website by accident, and I was very glad. The photos are superb, as was the touching dialogue. My daughter was the Pow Wow Princess you photographed, and the others my family and friends of the Circle. It was a special honor for us to have our daughter be so blessed at this pow wow, and I was touched by the things I saw and read here and there. Especially the Cherokee story. How so very true, and how so very sad that we as a people seem to be feeding the wrong wolf. I am glad to be walking the Red Road, and glad that my children follow the Creator along His path. Aho!

  4. Michael Says:

    Hello,

    I’ve been invited to attend the pow wow in November. Do you have any helpful advice in terms of making friends with the native americans there?

    Warm Regards,
    Michael

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.