It was such good medicine to be around the drum again. The beat of the drum as it ministers to my soul. As it gives my spirit cause to dance from the sidelines. The power, the echoing sounds fo the singers as they sang the songs that have defined pow wow for hundreds of years.
We had friends from Edmonton staying with us for the weekend. They are traditional dancers and both placed among the winners so they had an extra reason to go home with smiles on their faces after another memorable pow wow weekend.
I caught up with a number of friends from near and far while I moved around the arena for the few hours each day that I attended. Some were there as vendors, some as dancers and some like me among the spectators. That was a special treat. Lots of friendly gossip to catch up on and personal news to share with each other. I took some pics and movie clips of some of the dancing that I will post when I figure out how to do it exactly. lol. Still learning how to use the features here on this blog site.
Easter Sunday brought with it a special surprise blessing. One of our house guests lead a sunrise ceremony complete with smudge, prayers and food offerings to the ancestors. A song that had been given by this Elder to my now 13 year old son was sung for him again. He first received it along with his traditional name when he was 5 years old at his coming out to powwow. My friend recorded it later and left it with my son so that he could learn it for himself.
We started at 6:30 am and were finished a couple of hours later. It was a bit of a challenge for us all to be in position considering it was after 2am before the dancers got themselves to bed. It had already been a full second day of dancing before they got home at midnight for a late after pow wow snack. Even though a little tired the ceremony was filled with special blessings for all who attended. Without time for a nap and barely time for breakfast the dancers were off for a final day of dancing before their heads rested on pillows again in the wee hours of the next morning.
My son and I were honoured to play host to our pow wow friends and we are already looking forward to seeing them again next year. The only thing that could make it better would be to see my son back in the pow wow circle again himself. That shall be my prayer.
Until next time....Lizi-Tish
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment