That The Flag Did Still Wave

It was a bright sun filled day, that terrible bloody day in June of 1876. A day filled with cries and screams and shouts of victory. Of lances pointed high and gunshots ringing out across the Greasy Grass, of scalps taken and fatal blows struck by both sides and then a lonely silence as the victors cleared the field and wind was left to blow solemnly over those left behind.

There is a thing about the why’s and how’s of battle. It is not enough to win. That feeling is fleeting, the adrenalin soon dissipated. There needs to be something concrete and tangible to remind one of the results of that terrible risk taken, an actual prize from the field of battle that can link one back to that time when the memory grows dim. Something that is often referenced to remind one of the chances taken, the absolute finality of decisions, the very luck of the day. In this case for the victors it is the colors, the flag that meant so much to the vanquished, now held aloft and celebrated as a symbol of the glory of victory. To have captured that which was so important to their enemy validates their worth as warriors. It is proof undeniable that they were victorious.

There is a song important to us which contains the words “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave” that were spoken as a symbol of hope during another battle. On this day in June of 1876, on the gently swelling hillsides of the greasy grass alongside the Little Bighorn river, where many good men on both sides met their fate, that hope was transferred from the vanquished to the victors. The meaning of the symbol holds true regardless of who controls the flag. This time it is the warriors of the Indian nations that hold the flag. Soon enough it will transfer back as the pendulum swings back to the ebb and flow of battles past and present. But then that’s a story for another time.

The Rear Guard

Any good war chief knows you don’t commit all your troops to a battle. Some of the younger members are held back to hold the ponies while the more experienced warriors are off conducting the raid, or perhaps they are too young to be in the thick of things just yet but need the experience of being part of the action. To learn how to handle the fear and excitement, to learn how to be responsible enough to handle the smaller tasks of the war party before being entrusted with the larger duties.

Learning to be men is a difficult and frustrating task for these young warriors. After all if they’re old enough to be along on a raid they should be able to take part in it rather than just be pony holders. They’re brave enough, they know how to shoot and fight. Don’t they practice every single day? They tell each other they would count many coups against the enemy, and take many scalps. All they need is a chance to prove themselves, instead of being left to wait on the sidelines.

There is more to being a man and going to war than fighting hand to hand. The lessons learned by being a part of the group, of being thought of as mature enough to be equal company with the older men, learning to be patient and take orders and stand their ground, to be trusted. These are all lessons being taught while being the rear guard, even if they don’t realize yet they’re being taught. Their time will come all too soon.

2016 Eastern Shoshone Arapaho Portraits

The Eastern Shoshone and Arapaho powwow that was held in June of 2016 was a wonderful event full of dancing, singing and ceremony that showed just how proud the participants are of their culture and history. They were more than willing to answer questions about their tribal history and other activities that were being presented. This was a spectacular event and I am more than grateful for their kindness and friendship and I thank them for it. Below is a series of portraits of various participants who attended the event and I will let the images speak for themselves with the minimum amount of comment, other than to say what an honor it is to be able to join and observe this important part of their lives.

Readying himself to lead the honor guard into the Grand Entry

Dancing in all of her finery

A proud warrior ready to enter the circle

Experience shows

A proud young warrior

Observing the activity

The dance is all important as he puts his heart and soul into it

Calm and serene she makes the circle

Watching and listening

Modern and traditional, the two meld perfectly

A young face and a great smile

Women, the heart of a nation, dancing

The dancing goes on late into the night

These eyes have seen many dances

Beads, feathers, pride in culture all represented here in its finest

Seeing into the past, looking forward to the future

Confidence shows why elders are respected

Beautiful bead-work on a proud woman

A strong portrait of a man secure in his culture

It is always a time for reflection when you are in the circle

These portraits barely scratch the surface of the many participants of this powwow. In the future we will be posting more images of these wonderful people. Check back often for updates.

2016 Eastern Shoshone Arapaho Powwow

click on the images to see larger view

Back in June of last year (2016) I had the great pleasure to attend the Eastern Shoshone /Arapaho powwow on the Wind River reservation. This was a great event with wonderful people in a marvelous setting. It is held outdoors which always makes it better and the weather was cooperating with blue skies and no wind. Above is the Grand Entry with the color guard.

Everyone in their finest followed.

Dancers enthralled the spectators.

Their was color and action every where you looked.

Individual dancers took part.

Incredible detail and workmanship went into gorgeous displays of accessories and regalia.

As the sun was setting the participants gathered around the center pole in celebration

Elders sat reflecting in the late afternoon sun.

Later dancing took place as the participants made their way around the circle

It was a special time for everyone involved.

The dancers traveled sunwise around the circle.

Women in extraordinary dress made the circle several times.

Performing the steps as they’re meant to be done.

Fancy dancers giving it their all in front of one of the judges.

Color and form as well as commitment are most important during the fancy dance competition.

As always the best drummers and singers were performing for the dancers.

A beautiful example of form and skill.

Women in their finest competing in one of the categories. Each one a winner.

Men had their competitions and everyone put everything they had into them.

Incredible regalia was always on display.

Dancing went on far into the night.

Until finally the evening’s events came to a close.

This is a powwow you do not want to miss. There will be more to come from this powwow in the near future, so stop back and check it out.

What’s Going On

Our friend in the image up above is looking for the same thing you folks have been looking  for. Where have the posts been here at OpenChutes? Where are all the pictures from the powwows? Why haven’t you been posting?

I don’t know if you folks have ever touched a computer. I’m sure you have but my guess is that every single time you’ve touched one everything has worked perfectly. There has never been a problem and there is no reason anyone else should have a problem either. If my machine can work perfectly why can’t yours? The answer to that is I don’t know. All I know is that when ours goes on the fritz it’s like the end of the world.

We have had a computer bug similar to Ebola or that respiratory thing that’s going around right now where you can’t stop coughing for months and it feels like you’re passing a lung when you do, except this bug has been somewhere in the coding up on my server. Incredibly talented technical people just like the ones that put a man on the moon, could not get it resolved. Days went by then weeks. They huffed and they puffed, they gathered around Humpty and went at him with glue guns, they called Bill Gates, but nothing worked. We finally had to scrap most of the site and start over again. We still don’t know what it was.

Today however it looks like the gods have smiled upon us and lifted the sanctions they had in place and things seem to be working again. We won’t delve too deeply into cause and effect. Or the why’s and the wherefore’s. It’s working for now so we’re going to go ahead like we had good sense and start posting once more.

Hopefully the images from all the powwows taken this summer will magically begin to appear and we can all live happily ever after. Cross whatever you got to cross and we’ll hope for the best. Thanks to all of you who have patiently been waiting. Wish us luck.

 

The Itch

2016-10-16-the-itch6866

Itches, we’ve all had them. They can be little tiny ones that barely register as an itch. Or great big huge ones that take over your whole life for a moment, or somewhere in between. If you’ve ever had one of those plaster casts they used to use in the last century when you busted your whatever, you probably have a good idea what an itch is. In fact you’re probably one of those that bent a coat hanger just right so it would slide down between the cast and your affected part so you could get at it and scratch like the devil. Even though you knew you shouldna done it. You done it. Any price was reasonable when you could scratch that one place that was driving you nuts.

I think it is pretty safe to say that mountain men had their share of itches. And being the resourceful souls they were they quickly figured out how to get them scratched. Some of them had a favorite scratching stick they carried along in their possibles bag that they had whittled during non-scratching times, just in case the scratching thing came up they wouldn’t be caught flat-footed.

Other’s, the deep thinkers, the more inventive mountain men, developed special ways to get the job done. Now we’re not saying that this scratcher deliberately went out and killed this bear to satisfy his scratching needs, in fact the bear may have been in the act of doing some scratching to him as sort of a volunteer action before it was killed. If so it wasn’t a great leap to figure out that his hide would make a good scratching vehicle in times of need, but also keep him warm at night. And look awfully darn good too.

Mountain men are more than admirable figures. They had to solve a lot of life’s problems on the fly anyway they could, so if they could get the job done and look good doing it that was even better. If you went to the 81st Green River Rendezvous at Pinedale, Wyoming, there were a bunch of them there. Mountain men that is. They’re just downright cool. Ask any one of them.