Friday, September 11, 2009

Birthdays and Indians

I spent Labor Day weekend in a little town called Springdale, Washington. It is just a bit north of Spokane near the reservation. It was my boyfriend's 38th birthday and we went to celebrate with his family and take part in the Spokane Indian tribe's annual pow-wow. Derek's mom works for the tribe and it is a good opportunity to meet her friends, visit, and enjoy the celebration. Every year, the tribe decorates tee-pees, they hold an Indian art auction, they make tons of fry bread, drum, and dance each night away. The video post is of one of my favorite dances, the Prairie Chicken Dance. Some of these guys are so amazing...the video doesn't do it justice. I shopped all the vendors and saw lots of little horse things, a few are pictured below. I wanted so many things, but right now I am in the midst of saving for a pickup for my horse trailer, so that kept me strong. I love turquoise and silver and there was an amazing necklace for $140 I was drooling all over. I left with some fry bread and honey and lots of good memories of the weekend. Sometimes that is enough.


8 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

What a great way to spend a birthday and holiday weekend. I'm with you, I love turquoise and silver jewelry too. It's gotten so expensive over the years, when I first got mine it was reasonably priced not anymore. Love the dancing. We used to go to Arizona every year and attended many Native American celebrations.

Kathleen @ ForgingAhead said...

What a beautiful dance! Thanks for sharing.

I lived in Arizona for a bit as a child and have fond memories of these dances, and fry bread and turquoise.

I agree with Grey Horse Matter - a fabulous way to spend a birthday!

jacksonsgrrl said...

Wow! How VERY cool to be able to see something like that! I would have LOVED it! Beautiful jewelry too! But $140 can register a new truck, right? :)
~Mindy

Drillrider said...

Just seeing them in their dance costumes must have been awesome!

I inherited a belt buckle and bolo tie from my father that he purchased in Arizona in the 80's. It has silver, turquoise and red stones (not sure what those are), some type of horn (again, not sure what this is). It is wonderful and I only wear it on special occasions......I treasure it!

Sounds like you had a great time and your boyfriend had a fantastic birthday.

Jean said...

Saw your post on my blog about the Ansur saddles. I already have an Ansur Excel dressage saddle which I love, a Carlton, and an Ansur Classic. If I were a jumper rider I would buy an Elite, but I don't jump anymore.

Since I am an Ansur distributor, I have the saddles for demos with my clients...and so when friends ride one of my horses I can still ride the other. My Boys have been treeless in Ansurs since 2000.

Tracey said...

Cool dance movie! What a fun weekend.

Chelsi said...

That looks awesome!! I LOVE that necklace! Is it just open to the public or do you have to know someone to go? That dancing is amazing!! What you cant capture on film is the way that the beat of the drums just echo inside of you...it is a totally different experience in person, as you know:)

Callie said...

Wow, looks like fun. There's an annual Native American PowWow in Lake Geneva every spring we always try to go to. Love it! It's always a fun celebration!