I got to Fonda Wednesday afternoon, with rain on the windshield, and set-up my arbor in a drizzle of rain. Thursday was cloudy with spot showers throughout the day! Friday, "Opening Day", it rained in the morning, and was cloudy, windy and raw until about 5 PM when it started to rain again. Saturday was much of the same, with the muddy areas over ankle deep! Straw was brought in and spread over the really bad mud trenches, much to everyone's relief. On Sunday, I awoke about 5:30ish. The sun was shining on the horizon and there wasn't a cloud to be seen!
Saturday, there was a contingency from France, that came through the pow-wow grounds. I was talking to a woman, who had a strange look on her face, when someone in her group said, "she's from France and doesn't understand English". When I heard that, I yelled out "Mon Ami!" and gave her a big hug! That broke the ice with the group. It got even better, when I told their interpreter about the group in France that supports One Spirit. Then, everyone wanted One Spirit's website address, for the link to the group in France. I had a ball with my really,really bad broken French Canadian, and had everyone laughing at me. Surely the highlight of my day!
I was a really big hit with the mosquito's at Fonda! I'll be scratching mosquito and spider bites for at least a week! Pictured below is a moth that invaded my arbor early Thursday night. It had a wing span of 5", with a body length of over 3". It was camouflage in coloration. I made absolutely no attempt to remove it!
I had the pleasure of watching the Iroquois Veteran's Color Guard, carry the flags, during the Grand Entry on Sunday! Quite a sight and very solemn. On a more lighter note, the sounds of the drums, even had visiting Nun's dancing in the Circle, to the beat of the Native Two Step Dance. surely a sight I'll never forget! Who knew Nun's danced?
The Kateri Shrine provided a wonderful location for this annual pow-wow. The beautifully manicured grounds and the visitor's on Pilgrimage to this Christian Mohawk Santuary just helped make this pow-wow a success, even with days and days of bad weather. Those that attended wearing Native Regalia, were besieged with requests from the tourist's for pictures! It also made a great location to make people aware of One Spirit and the plight of the Lakota people at Pine Ridge. I was really proud to represent One Spirit!
Below are some of the pictures that I took, I hope you enjoy them!
Edward Broken Feather
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