Monthly Archives: May 2016

Free Flying

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Sometimes you walk around and everything feels heavy, like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. It doesn’t make your knees buckle but it makes you strain mightily to stand upright. You don’t know quite where this feeling comes from but it’s there. Your friends will stop you and say “Hey,dude, (if they still call you dude) you feeling heavy today, or what.” or “Whatsamatter Atlas, the world a little much today.”

That’s when it’s time for you to go to your quiet place. That place where you can sit back, close your eyes, and contemplate your navel, or any other body part you wish to dwell on. Maybe have a nice hot cup of tea, we recommend Twinning’s English Breakfast, but there are no requirements in the quiet place. Have what you want. Eat spaghetti if that’s what makes you feel good. The important thing is to be alone with your thoughts and convert them from dark, heavy, brooding thoughts to something light and airy and easier to handle.

Some people use drugs to do that. Don’t do that. It’s bad for you. Instead we recommend using the method brought forth in The Once and Future King, by T. H. White. That ‘s where Merlin taught Wart how to change into different animals so he could learn and understand some of the facts of life. You can use it for that too if that’s what you need, but you can also use it as a break and a get away from those heavy thoughts, the ones making you sad and irritating your friends.

Personally we like the to turn into a bird, in this case a raven, and leap off into that great wide open space over the Grand Canyon. Yeah, over that part that’s a mile deep. That’s the rush that changes your outlook. You’re light as a feather, or maybe a whole bunch of feathers, and all those heavy, ugly thoughts are spiraling down into the depths of the canyon.

You can glide in great swooping circles or hover in one place against the wind, or dive and soar or tumble in huge somersaults over the yawning maw of the canyon. Man that feels good. Now we like the bird part best but your mileage may vary. If so pick something else to change into and go at it. The deal is when you’re all done, all those miserable thoughts should be history. Unless you let them back in again. We  would caution against that. Be happy. It feels better.

2016 NCIPA Northern Colorado Intertribal Powwow Association

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

2016 NCIPA Northern Colorado Intertribal Powwow

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On April 16th and 17th this year the 24th annual Northern Colorado Intertribal Powwow was held in Ft. Collins, Colorado. The weather was cold and rainy but inside the Northside Aztlan Community Center it was as warm as the smiles of the various attendees. Participants from all over were here to dance, drum, sing and celebrate their culture.

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As always the color guard opened the ceremonies with all the flags displayed. It is an honor to be chosen to be a member of the color guard and the veterans who participate have all served their country in different branches of the armed services.

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There are dances by the men.

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Fancy dancers with their fantastic regalia perform in a hypnotizing swirl of color and motion.

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Women dancers have their own dances and their regalia and performance is spectacular.

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There is every type of regalia from the most highly decorated to very simple traditional and it is all on display.

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The powwow couldn’t be held without the drummers who play and sing the traditional songs for the different dances.

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Fancy dancers are show stoppers with their incredible regalia and whirling, leaping, contestants. .

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There are times when the members take a celebratory turn around the circle and everyone joins in.

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Always there is color. The various accessories combine colors in ways that are fascinating.

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And always there are gifts. Here apples have  been placed where the youngest of the participants can race out to gather them. Lots of fun for them and lots of fun for those who watch from the sidelines.

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The youngest are also watching. Much can be learned by simply observing. This is how knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. By seeing, hearing, participating, talking to their elders, listening to their stories and always with receiving much love and attention.

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There are also big observers. But they learn too.

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The bead and quill work on the various pieces is incredible. This is all hand done and the numbers of hours and effort that goes into them is beyond counting.

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Sharing the experience makes lasting memories for both young and old.

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Youngsters waiting for their time to dance. These are great kids and they truly seem to be enjoying their part in all the proceedings. There is a lot of pride here.

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More color and detail shows how some of the regalia is constructed.

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Many of the participants look as if they stepped out of an Edward Curtis photograph or perhaps a George Catlin painting.

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Styles of dress varied. There were as many different looks as there was participants.

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Dancing gives life to the clothing, the accessories carried, and to the participants themselves.

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The surroundings of the dance began to fade away as you listened to the drums and watched the dances performed. The fact that you were in a gymnasium was lost as you watched dances that could have been performed a hundred years ago.

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There was fun and excitement all around but underneath the activity it was always a serious spiritual event. This was not play, this was an expression of the participants culture and beliefs and was always a time of reflection.

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This young woman seemed to epitomize the effect these gatherings have on the people who attend them. Pride, attentiveness, beauty, strength of character, awareness of their culture, all folded into this gathering. Feeling the tradition that extends as far back into time as you can see, to right now in the chaos of the present, is reflected in her gaze.

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Nearly at the close of the event there was a couples dance. From the married couples down to the teenagers who have been flirting on the sidelines throughout the powwow, they parade around the ever-present circle that determines all they do in life. It shows how this is one large family. A family the reaffirms its bond to the tribe and their culture and to the world at large. That’s what a powwow is about.

In the future I will periodically post more images from this powwow so stay tuned for more. If you type, Crow, Blackfeet, Indian or the name of a gathering you will be able to visit pages from other powwows that have been posted here. There are literally hundreds of images from the many powwows, gatherings and Indian rodeos I have attended. Feel free to browse to your heart’s content. And if you feel so inclined forward this post to interested friends. Thanks

Time Of The Bloody Antlers

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There is a cycle that occurs in every living thing. Mule deer are no exception. Since his antlers fell off in late March and began growing again immediately, to sometime in early fall, this was mid-September when his antlers have reached their full growth, and the blood filled velvet covering them has gone beyond itchy to maddening, the Mule deer has completed one of the most important cycles of its life.

Right now he is at his most vulnerable. The velvet has been mostly cleaned off by rubbing and thrashing his antlers against the shrubs and bushes, tearing away the soft blood-filled velvet, leaving the antlers stained a deep dark red. The antlers are still hardening and he can’t afford an accident like sweeping them into a tree trunk or clashing with one of his herd mates. In fact as the blood rises in each of the bucks and they begin to feel the battle lust form they want to test the new antlers out on each other. Instead of charging each other and engaging their antlers as they would in full combat, they will often rise on their hind legs and paw at each other the way the doe’s do when they fight each other, not the most dignified behavior, but if they break an antler they are out of the game.

It is still a little early for that however, and the bucks congregate in small numbers of 6 to 10 or so to hang out in groups we call the Bachelor boys. That’s not scientific nomenclature but it is accurate. That lasts until a few weeks later when the cold has descended from the high peaks and the antlers have reached their full fighting readiness. The mating urge has risen and the fellowship has disappeared from the Bachelor boys and now it’s every buck for himself. They have disbanded and will challenge each other on sight if they have begun assembling a harem.

They’re still in fattening up mode right now, packing on weight so they’re ready to face any challenger. The time of the bloody antlers is drawing to a close. The rut is here, the doe’s are watching from the meadows edge, the primary bucks are done sizing the others up and before long you’ll hear the angry bellowing, the clash of strong antlers meeting each other in combat, and the cycle completes once again. The next time the antlers will be bloodied is during battle.

Powwows And The People Who Attend Them

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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Tome Roubideaux Sioux 2016

The folks who attend powwows are a unique assortment of people. Not unique like the parking lot of a Wal-Mart but unique like a group of like-minded souls that are interested in the varied life around them in a way that many others aren’t.

On one hand you have the participants who attend these gatherings as a way to maintain the deepest contact with their culture and to celebrate their beliefs with others in a way that brings them closer together as a people. This grounds them and roots them in a connection to their culture that is difficult to get any other way. They are reaffirmed in their beliefs by the fellowship of those that have shared their life experiences, both good and bad, together. They are a family, a collective village, a group of people that can trace their beginnings back to the far distant past and celebrate them as if time didn’t matter.

Many of the participants, most in fact, who dance and take part in the various ceremonies dress in the regalia that represents their tribal affiliations and they are as distinctive and varied as the tribes and individuals within them. But for some a favorite blanket thrown across their shoulders, or a t-shirt with the faded logos of powwows of the past are enough, and they enter the circle and dance with the same fervor and beliefs as the most spectacularly dressed member there. The dress doesn’t matter, they are one.

Then there are the spectators, those who attend for many different reasons. Some are dedicated followers of the Powwow Trail and attend every one they can. They might be family members or close friends who come to support the dancers, singers and drummers. Or others who are trying to see and understand this wonderful culture in a way you can’t by reading about it. Some just come for the pageantry and to see something different. They enjoy the spectacle aspect of the gathering without delving too deeply into the culture, curious to see a lifestyle that is so different from their own, yet one that is embedded into the fabric and mainstream of our national culture. Once the powwow is over and everyone is back in their street clothes the extraordinary focus brought on tribal culture is gone, everyone, participants and spectators alike, look and act the same. We’re all back in the here and now to being everyday Americans.

Until the next powwow that is. Then the tribal culture explodes again with all the intensity and color and sound and whirlwind of activity that it has. As it has been doing for as long as the tribal cultures have existed. It is remarkable that with all the technological advancements we have made that one can attend a powwow and see into the past. The dances tell their stories, the regalia tells who the individual is, the ceremonies bind the people together again, and the circle is completed one more time.

This is a dynamic culture. It is not static. The people move forward with the time, incorporating anything new that enhances their culture, even while maintaining their direct vision of themselves as distinct members of society with a rich culture rooted deeply in our past. There is a lot going on within one of these celebrations. Attend one if you can.

He Who Watches

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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16th Annual Indian Market and Powwow at  The Fort Restaurant

This past weekend, May 14th and 15th, was the 16th Annual Indian Market and Powwow held at the Fort restaurant in Morrison Colorado. It was an incredible affair with Indian vendors showing off amazing art and jewelry, members of various tribes participating in the accompanying powwow and re-enactors dressed as people of the late 1800’s telling stories of times long past. There were informational exhibits that portrayed life in the 1800’s and various Raptors were on display as well. The fact that the setting included the extraordinary Red Rocks that made this area famous as a backdrop just made a good thing better. All in all an exciting event and a great time was had by all.

Jeremy is one of the re-enactors and greeted those arriving through the main entrance in a welcoming but stoic manner. Mountain men tended to be somewhat taciturn when amongst town folk anyway. They were more comfortable in the high country, but like you and I, came to town occasionally to see the sights. Costumes of the period were extremely well done as were the regalia worn by the powwow participants.  This is an extremely interesting gathering and the atmosphere and architecture of The Fort Restaurant is more than worth the trip itself. Especially if you get to order one their Buffalo Burgers.

Over the next few weeks we will be bringing you more images of the Powwow and other events from the Tesoro Indian Market and Powwow featuring Powwow participants from the various tribes that attended and other events that took place. Over 50 tribes were represented plus drum groups and singers to round out the festivities, so there was plenty to see, hear and enjoy.

If you get a chance to attend this event make sure you do, you don’t want to miss experiencing this spectacular event held at the Fort Restaurant. Even if the Indian Market is not happening treat yourself to a wonderful meal. It’s worth the trip.

Bear In The Saddle

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It’s Spring time here at The Institute and the land is waking up. The grass is greening, there’s fresh new leaves on all the foliage, there is warmth in the sunshine as it lights up the meadow floors, and our resident Border Patrol members are checking back in.

As we have mentioned in the past we use a highly trained specialized group of Ursus Americanus or the American Black bear to patrol our inner borders around the campus here at The Institute to discourage tourists, intruders, interns from leaving, and anyone not authorized to be on the grounds. All of the other members of the team had checked in and were patrolling their territories except for our bear that patrols the western edge of the campus.

This would be Edith Halfway Jones. Edith was supposed to have checked in back on May 5th but she was a no-show and was placed on our AWOL list and was scheduled for termination, of her job, not of herself, had she not shown up by the 15th.

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This is what the innermost border of the campus looks like from the main building of The Institute. This little saddle is a little over ¼ mile away and is the closest boundary that protects the main campus area. There are several more boundaries that extend out to the utmost edge of The Institute’s grounds many miles away. One of interns on watch yelled down from the observation tower “Bear in the saddle!” excitedly, then “It looks like Edith!”

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We quickly went to the primary optical bear recording device set up to keep watch over our Border patrol and extended it to its fullest reach of 800mm and could see that it was indeed Edith and  that she was busy stuffing her face with new grass and looking rather fatigued. Normally she would be in a focused no-nonsense pose with an attitude of “Don’t  even think about coming in here.”. But that wasn’t the case today.

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She was acting peculiar since she had been spotted and we were concerned that perhaps she was off her feed or in some sort of funk, or maybe just burned out. That happens in a high-stress job such as hers. She kept looking over to a stand of trees and we thought, OK here ‘s our first contact with a trespasser this year, and bets were already being made on the number of pieces we’d find in the morning.

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Then she went over to one of the trees next to the saddle and we were saying to each other “Hiding up there ain’t going to help that guy. Edith can climb like a Rhesus when she wants to” and sure enough up the tree she went. We were focusing our sound recorders on the tree waiting for the screams that usually followed Edith climbing into the tree, but instead we got a big surprise.

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She came back down with a little bear. A very small one in fact. “Where’d she get that ?” one of the interns asked. We sent him down to the Nurse who explained very clearly where Edith got that and he was properly mortified. Some of the young female interns were picking at the buttons on his shirt and talking quietly to him which seemed to make matters worse for the poor soul, especially when they would say something then giggle. This explained a lot of things. Why Edith looked peaked and run down. Why she didn’t act like her old self. Why she was irritable and impatient about turning in her reports. We wondered how it was going to work out with a single mother doing a full-time job and caring for little Fleabert too, but we needn’t have worried.

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Edith is a trooper and a dedicated employee. She found a place to hide Little Fleabert, stopped to test the wind and get the lay of the land, then went off to make her rounds. Everyone gave a quiet but heartfelt cheer and watched as she went over the far side of the saddle to quietly but efficiently do her job. We all slept better last night.

Hurry Up Eddy The Grass Really Is Greener over Here

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In Yellowstone as well as many other places the old adages are still in use and in the case of the Buffalo, followed religiously as well. If you observe carefully you can often see them being acted out. “The grass is always greener on the other side of the (add your own barrier here)” is the one being followed at the moment.

Perfectly intelligent looking Buffalo will be quietly grazing alongside the Madison when one of them will look across the river and with a bellow race directly into the frigid water to get to the other side where the grass is obviously greener. Soon every member of the herd will be on the other side wondering why their privates are freezing and doesn’t this grass taste exactly like the grass they were just eating a few moments ago.

But an adage is an adage so there must be some purpose in having them. It can’t be just to wash their undercarriage. It must be a case of one of them overhearing it somewhere and not being the mental giants of the ungulate world, decided it must be important or someone smarter than him wouldn’t of said it. Why the rest of the herd follows him is easy to understand. If you were able to look inside that great shaggy head, which is nearly 3′ wide and weighs over 250 lbs. of solid bone except for the small cavity right in the center that the brain resides in, you would see a buffalo command center roughly the size of a very small clock radio. The commands to go left, right, forward but not backward, buffalo do not back up, lie down, get up, fight with whomever is nearest your cows, make small buffalo, gore the occasional tourist and have room for one or two adages, one of which is always “The grass is always greener on the other side of the (add your own barrier here)” The other might be “Stand in the middle of the road until all traffic is backed up at least 17 miles in either direction, then lie down.” That isn’t generally a well-known adage outside the park but it is a big one for the buffalo.

Spring is here and everybody is revved up to do springtime stuff and making sure that adages both young and old are followed. The buffalo do their part. If you haven’t followed up any old adages lately you can do your part by personally Googling adage, choose several and make them a part of your life. You’ll feel good and be a better person for it.