Pow-Wow time!

Over the holiday weekend, we loaded up the family and drove to Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Our main reasoning for leaving our reservation was to take part in a tribal ceremony they were having for my granddaughter's husband, but that soon fell through when he missed his plane in San Diego. But, we improvised and made the most of it and watched the Ho Chunk Veteran’s Pow-Wow.

Right off I ran into Billy Daniels, afamous guy from the Forest County Potawatomi. I’ve known Billy for a good long while now. The first time I met Billy was at a service in Wisconsin back in the early 1990s. I was impressed with him since he knew the tribal language and the Indian ways. He has come down to our rez a few times and attended our services and has stayed at my home, so it was good to see him again.

The kids danced and I sat under the nearest shade since it was fairly hot. The announcer said they had over 380 dancers, a pretty good total since it wasn’t a contest pow-wow. I like going to pow-wows to watch the people, dancers, visit on occasion and look at the stands. There is some great beadwork and craftwork out there and I imagine it takes some time to make them so the prices are probably right. I have nothing to compare it to since I have no artistic talent.

After the pow-wow the kids swam in a nearby swim area with a beach, if you imagine a beach in Wisconsin. And they swam in the hotel pool again when we got back. We kept some late hours which ran against the grain for us old folks but it was nothing for the kids. I think they enjoyed the trip. They swam, danced and filled their bellies and got to see something different. It was a good start on their summer vacation and as I remember summer doesn't last long enough when your in school.

We stopped at a casino on the way there and spent the night and won enough gas money to get to the next casino. It was a good experience to see how other Indians conduct their pow-wows and run their gaming operations. Our pow-wow is coming up June 11-13 and I hope it is a good experience for everybody.

Wisconsin used to be our home-20 and I can see why we were removed. It is a beautiful area, lot of trees, great looking farm-land and hilly. On the way there I did most of the driving and I got to pass some old people three or four times which is pretty unusual for me since they usually pass me up. Isn’t that sad to have something like that make you feel good?

A bit of advice for you summer travelers: don’t talk to strangers unless their paying you a jackpot, drive the speed limit or maybe a couple of miles over and don't charge too much because the bills will hit the mailbox sooner or later. On the home-front have somebody watch your house and don’t tell nobody your gone, because you might have all your stuff gone when you get back. It’s nice to get away on occasion, but home is where it’s at for me.