7 December '07
We've had soooo many opportunities to go and enjoy a Pow Wow but we waited "just for this one" here in Indio. This was going to be a 3 day event but we only had one night to enjoy it, and that one was tonight. It was held at one of the casinos here in Indio with the "Grand Parade" coming into the pavilion at 6:30.
We've had soooo many opportunities to go and enjoy a Pow Wow but we waited "just for this one" here in Indio. This was going to be a 3 day event but we only had one night to enjoy it, and that one was tonight. It was held at one of the casinos here in Indio with the "Grand Parade" coming into the pavilion at 6:30.
It was headed by the "Elder" of the local tribe and a guest from a tribe in Alberta, Canada. Following them was the flags of the 2 countries and about 250 Native Americans from Nations across the Americas. This was the 11th Annual Winter Gathering and presented by Twenty Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. The ceremonial dress of the men, women, and children was absolutely amazingly beautiful. We took in some of the contests that were to last the whole 3 days. Now we didn't see the finals, but we really enjoyed the Druming contest, the singing contests, and my favorites, the Ancestorial dancing. After the Druming and singing competion we saw the Elder men and women (65 +), and the youngest children dance.
When we left we left with a bounce in our step and an amazement of the stamina of those that were before us tonight.