Tag Archives: culture

Split Horn Ermine Covered War Bonnet

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Not every war bonnet was made of eagle feathers. There were a host of different styles made from many different things such as buffalo scalps, where the top of the *buffalos head, including the horns, was adorned with important spirit items of the maker and formed into a head covering. Leather caps covered with feathers and perhaps a set of horns were used as well, and the ermine covered war bonnet with the set of split buffalo horns pictured above is often seen at various tribal functions.

It is thought that the plains tribes were the first to wear headdresses but all Indian groups had their own style of head covering. This image is of a Crow warrior at a parade during the famous Crow Fair held every August at Crow Agency in Montana. But many other tribes wore the same style, but vastly individualistic types of headdresses or bonnets.

This view is a strikingly dramatic presentation of a tribes culture and history and an honor to be able to see and photograph this amazing piece of living history. If you’re ever able to visit a powwow do so, it’s an incredible glimpse of a people’s culture as they live it today.

* http://www.bigshotsnow.com/regalia-buffalo-headdress/ for an example of an incredible buffalo headdress check out this link. This is one of the most spectacular examples you will ever see.

Time Travel

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The photo above was taken at the North American Indian Days or NAID held every year by the Blackfeet tribe at Browning, Montana. There, members of the tribe gather and celebrate their heritage by dancing, singing, displaying their treasured regalia and horses, and their culture in all of its splendor.

Sometime during the celebration they hold a parade and it’s a grand parade. Everyone shows up as the participants walk, ride or are carried in decorated vehicles through the streets of Browning. Many with their own interpretation of how things were before modern civilization entered the picture.

This woman riding her prized horse with its foal walking along side in the parade is an example of how the culture and traditions of the tribe are upheld. As an observer you can choose to view this scene as it actually occurred, where the parade passed in front of a large store with crowds of people standing in front, cars parked along the roadway, the street itself in stark relief with its blacktop reality as an element in the image, a strict documentation of the event as it actually was, or you can choose to see it another way. As an artist first and photographer second and a hopeless romantic thrown in to boot, I chose to see her as a member of the tribe on a journey to the summer camping grounds, where there was plenty of new grass for the horses, the game was plentiful in the mountains, and space in the lush valley to set up their lodges while they lived their lives as they always had in the past.

A generous use of photo editing software allowed me to time travel and remove the modern day distractions, the cars, the buildings, the crowds, hopefully recreating that feeling of a bygone era. Romanticized, of course, but that’s how I see a lot of the world. Whether it actually existed like this doesn’t matter, Art is what you see in your minds eye whether it’s a gritty fact-filled stark reality with all its warts and blemishes, or  an idyllic imagined peaceful scene. There’s no political agenda here, just an attempt to show the beauty and history and yes the nostalgia of an incredible people as it may have been in a long ago time. Time travel and an emotional escape to a place that may never have existed as portrayed but certainly should have.

If you get an opportunity go and see the powwow of the Blackfeet tribe at Browning, Montana. You might just see your own vision, all you have to do is look and imagine.

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

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.

The Storytellers

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Storytellers are very important to a culture that has no written language or any means whatsoever of recording their history or the information that has to be handed down from one generation to another. Which is why in every culture on earth, whether it be a human one like we live in, or a wet one like exists in the ocean or an animal one that lives on the land, or a much, much older one such as the one the earth and the stones and the trees have, has a storyteller. The information it takes to be a successful species has to be passed a long. That’s where storytellers come into play.

While walking by these two storytellers in the forest a few days ago I heard them explaining to this young sapling about the role she had to play as she grew up and took her rightful place in the forest. Everyone in Nature has their place and a job to do. The Earth of course stays firmly underfoot and it is the force that gives purpose to all the other things in life. The other elements such as the wind, sun, water, all have their parts to play but each individual has their responsibilities to perform as well.

And as in all cultures the young have questions about those things. They also have a lot of fear. Fear of the unknown. And a lot is unknown. The two storytellers above have been telling these stories for millennium. The one on the left with the long druid-like countenance is the most versed in the why of things, the broad overview of what our purpose is here. While the shorter, rounder one is an earth mother and she has all the practical facts of life that the younger ones need to know.

Procreation is always the single largest topic on the young ones minds and it is always the scariest to ask about. That’s why so many come to the storytellers to find out these things, you can’t ask your mother, you just can’t. How embarrassing would that be. And the other saplings are asking you about them so there’s no help there. No, the storytellers are the ones to come to.

I couldn’t hear much of the conversation as the storytellers speak in a very low voice, so low sometimes that we can’t hear it at all. The sound travels through the ground to the saplings roots like whale song through the ocean which is why there is a such a surprised look on her face. I did hear the words, gymnosperms, and male and female gametophytes and the release of large amounts of pollen, which is when the saplings branches flew up in embarrassment and her leaves flushed a pale shade of yellow.

It was at this point that I moved along as the conversation was getting to a very delicate stage and I did not want to add to the saplings awkward self-consciousness. I was just glad that the storytellers were there to help this generation of trees learn what they needed to know. Even in this day of information overload and unlimited knowledge storytellers are important.