Beside the Stream

The 44th annual Hozhoni Days Pow Wow was held at Fort Lewis College, and Indians came from all over the region to help dance Spring into creation.  The drums beat all day, and the young men were heartbreakingly beautiful.  When I saw this pair racing to the auditorium, I had to do a mental readjustment because this is the Dad with the child, not the Mom.  The mothers and grandmothers are the ones who made the costumes. 

That’s so cute I need another shot.

These guys are dressed up like I’ve never seen, and my my my the flower of young manhood is something to behold when it’s decked with fuschia plumage. 

There were people from many tribes, and there were many types of costumes.   The variety in headdresses was awesome, and there was a special prayer of thanks to all the birds who contributed to this pow wow.   

This is a man’s headdress. 

The women’s costumes were also beautiful.  I think the green dress is entirely beadwork.

One by one the costumes were magnificent.  All together, it was  almost too much to take in. 

Here’s a woman with a lot of elk ivories on her dress, and another woman with military connections.  Can you see the little girls with the bells sewn onto their dresses?  A lot of the little boys had bells on their ankles, and they stamped around making a Spring racket. 

Here’s a scene from the bleachers, with young teenaged boys in plumes; the Moms who stitched and drove are having a ball.  How many thousand hours of handwork does this photo encompass?  

These men, and the boys who want to be men, danced as a prayer.  It was as though this is what real men look like and this is what true men do, and the rest of the time they’re disguising themselves as Anglos.  It was as though daily small town life has been muted to black and white, while pow wow days are in Technicolor.  It was like the one true thing. It was dreamtime made real.