Reznjun

hope the language police dont correct me on spelling. i go for  2 miles each time i walk. its amazing the different kinds of wildlife i see while out walking. i noticed the water was backing up under the bridge near my house. i thought it was a beaver dam. so i was looking out for signs everytime i passed after that. the other day i noticed a beaver in the water. i had to stop walking to watch the critter. from the top of the bridge i could see it swim underwater.  it came up on the other side. there was a smaller one on the other side.

yesterday i went for a walk again but decided to take my camera. good thing i did too. i was able to take several pictures of the larger beaver feeding on small brush on the bank of the crick. even got a picture of it swimming underwater. the smaller one was in the water on the other side of the bridge. i got a coupla pictures of it too. i continued on with my walk.

i took my dog for a rabies shot yesterday and he got a flea and tick dip. the animal control unit sponsored the event. i thought it was alright. there were a number of people there with their dogs. i usually miss the event. i never hear about it til its over. i lucked out this year.  there was a lady there from the humane society. she offered to spay my dog. i gave her my number and said i would think about it. i didnt tell the dog about that tho. it would mellow him out some, he acted vicious to all the other dogs. good thing i had him on a leash. he aint a mean dog, just dont know how to act. i know people like that. all bark and no bite. let them believe they are mean, its good for their ego.

i had to send some background info to the place i am heading to in september. i am gonna be the honored indian. they have over 15,000 people go thru there on a weekend. i get to take some of my roaches and drums there. might even have a chance to sell some. the economy has people backing off on buying at the moment. i make good art and it is priced reasonable but some think indians have to sell cheap. my art aint cheap nor will i sell it cheap. indians been ripped off enough.

i kind of had to laugh in filling out my background. i didnt claim any of my grandfathers are chiefs. you see that all the time when people fill out ancestry. there werent any common indians in the old days. they were all chiefs. kinda like today. nowadays you see people claim a chief as their great grandfather even when it isnt so. some just dont know their history. or prefer to write their own. i think it is better to live on your own merit rather that glom on to the fame of an ancestor. or as we are told ‘you gotta make your own road’.

i am almost caught up in my garden now.i have put so many hours in it. it is growing good. just gotta accept what nature brings now. now i gotta get back to my roach business. and may sneak in a few road trips.

there is no such phrase. its just a corruption of language meant to humorously say much thanks. i was sent this beaded belt buckle as a late birthday present. the picture is a bit fuzzy but i kinda like it that way. thats how i feel before my  first cup of coffee. the thing with indians though is how do you wear a cool belt buckle if no one can see it.  a pow wow gut would cover it. i have put much effort into walking this past 6 years or so. this year i have logged 168 miles so far. so this belt buckle will be visible soon when i wear it.

and i gotta thank someone for finally sending a comment. i dont get many of them. i welcome comments. it says someone is reading me. the numbers tell me that bout 700 a day read my off the wall stuff.not many will comment tho. n i seen a site that linked to  my site when i was surfing. then i spaced out what page it was. i shoulda wrote it down. i would have added the link to my site.

tomorrow i am talking deh ish over to the tribal po leece station. the animal control unit is having their annual rabies clinic. i usually dont hear about it til after its over. this year i can line up with the fort njuns for the first time. i will be able to take ‘ko nu gish’ to get a free rabies shot and he will get a flea n tick dip. i gotta go interpret for that dog  cuz he only obeys my command in  potawatomi. he one of them backward rez dogs.

i was asked to do a wedding again. but i had to hold off. it is at the time i may be out of town. may have a gig up north.  i got friends there and it will be anutha road trip. i am waiting to hear. i gotta take gigs when i get them.

lately i have talked to a coupla people that went to boarding schools. we compared notes on the abuse we experienced. still some survivors left. glad to hear that. i havent seen many of the ones i went to school with, just a few that were doing some hard time. others met  violent deaths.  some went back to native religions. i still dont like to go into a church today.

i was talking to another guy i know recently. i only have to half listen to him, cuz he will tell me the same story at least ten times. he forgets he told me, but i remember each detail vividly. i nod and act entertained. indians are too nice to interrupt. or roll their eyes. so we hear things over and over.

i visited the no news tribal website. lo and behold i did learn something new. they gonna have an art contest at the gathering. thing is i dont see where my art fits in. its not  paintings, pottery, jewelry, leather or beadwork. it is an art though. maybe i will enter a piece if i can find a category for my art. seems i never fit the neat little cubbyholes.

gotta gear up for our pow wow. its coming soon. two weeks matter of fact. i wanta do some taping and take some pictures.  too bad it will  miss per cap.  i once asked about that and was told if we waited til per cap it would rain. wtf. how does the weather know when we get our per caps. we charge a hellva lot for stands and our people dont spend as much as they would with extra cash in their pockets. some have said they would come home for the pow wow if they had their per cap. it aint like we gotta accomodate our own people. we cant question the powers that be.

it may rain again this weekend. so i gotta mow the yard….

in da spring when things are ready to pick and be put away you have to do it. cant wait til a better time. before i left on my last road trip i picked a buncha nenwezhek. the rains we had made it grow early. so i had to pick them. i put away 9 gallons. i picked almost that much last year and it didnt last.  so i picked more this year.

then i got back and noticed the gooseberries were ready to pick. actually they looked like they were ready earlier. i just missed them. so i went out and picked enough to put away a gallon and a half. i froze some and canned some. i plan to do more canning this year cuz of the ice storm we had the other year. i lost alot of what i put away because the electricity was off. i tried to keep it froze but it thawed. what i had dried was saved, but i lost what was in the freezer. not wanting to go thru that again, i thought it would be better to can. lesson learned. now i gotta score more canning jars.

my potatoes are looking good. my rows are about a hundred feet long. i plant my onions in the spaces between the plants.  they grow together. it saves space too. i have already eaten spinach, lettuce, strawberries and radishes from my garden. my cabbages are growing fast. my carrots are coming up. my corn, beans and squash have sprouted. i reseeded those rows where i had some blank spaces. this rain should sprout them.

i ran my tiller between the rows to get rid of the weeds. they werent too bad. i pulled alot of weeds by hand in the rows. so my garden is looking good. only problem is where i had new ground broken. the tomato plants i put in there got zapped. except the heirloom plants, they are thriving. so i have to replant tomatoes again. guess i will replant them with heirloom plants. my habenero peppers look good. same with my green beans.  the new ground should produce well.

spring is such a busy time. we usually have alot of ceremonies too. lotsa work  has to be done. gardens dont plant themselves. the things from nature dont pick themselves either. the lawn will have to be mowed til fall. good thing i got my rider mower. after awhile i can kick back when things are caught up. not quite at that stage yet. will be happy then.

had a good road trip over the memorial day week end. traffic wasnt all that bad since i took the two lanes across the middle of nowhere. you see more of america that way. i like to stop to see the little tourist attractions. like this one up the road. i have passed it many times but never stopped to see it. it is supposed to be a monument to indians. this artist has many of them across the country. it is probably the biggest indian i have ever seen. he had that wooden look that some bureaucrats have if you ever have to ask them for something. i know council people and program directors  like that. you just want to see ‘hey we just alike’ but you see this look and know it would mean nothing.

i was motoring down the road and passed a catfish buffet sign. i normally dont double back on my tracks, but i turned around to eat there. it was just a little roadside diner. the food was great. i ate two catfish and had shrimp. i cleaned them carcasses better than a cat. i plan to stop there again.

i stopped in hannibal to walk along the mississippi river. sitting in a car makes my back hurt, so i gotta stretch. there is a little shop along the river front that sells ice cream cones. at two bucks a dip, its a bit pricey but worth it. i have stopped there a few times now. i was leery of stopping there the first time. i read twain and remember he used terms such as nigger jim and injun joe. musta been just the vernacular of the day. the people there are friendly. but then tourist traps have to be, if they want business.

i made it to quincy not long after that. had to stop at a garage sale. all my stops added two hours to the trip. i never go straight to anywhere. i stayed at the home of the archaeologist that sponsored the bus tour i was to go on. the tour was nice. i had a seat reserved in the front of the bus, didnt have to sit in the back. come along way. we stopped at about 20 mounds. they are located on a bluff overlooking the mississippi river. quite a view for the living. most of them were overgrown with trees now though. back then it would have been an unobstructed view. it is still a beautiful place tho.

there were hundreds buried there. back in 1929 they dug up 69 natives. no one knows where their remains are today, probably on a shelf. the artifacts have disappeared also, probably in the hands of collectors. the first stop we made was to a present day cemetary. it is located on the mounds indians built a thousand years ago. it wasnt explained what happened to the natives buried there. the last three mounds are located on a tract that a developer is trying to sell for 25 thou. it is one acre. he is aware of the history of the place and said it didnt matter. when told indians held the place sacred he again replied he didnt care. there will be an effort to reclaim that acre.

there were two other skinjuns on the tour. we stopped at the temple mound. i told them i wasnt into street theater or putting on a show but i wanted to smoke my pipe with the old ancestors. their spirits had been disrespected so many times. they agreed. so we went to the top and smoked. we became bros after that.

we had to walk down a path to see some of the mounds. there were really overgrown with vegetation. if we didnt have the archaeologists along to point out where the mounds were, we would have missed them. there will be an effort to clear the mounds of all that, and restore them back to what they looked liked before. and it will be possible to view  the river as they did when the mounds were built.

 most of the people on this first tour were people that want to protect the sites. many of them had never seen an indian before. some young boy wanted to have his picture taken with me. but he was afraid to ask. the hostess i stayed with said just go ask him. so he did. and i told him sure. i posed with the kid and put my hand on his shoulder. gotta have good public relations. these are people that want to help. i remember in the past that some indians burned down the people that were trying to help them. better to educate than hate.

that night one of the other indians had a sweat at his house. he invited us over, so we went.  i told my host that i didnt think i would be going to a sweat in quincy. i thought i would be drinking lattes and eating croissants. it was nice. we had buffalo stew afterward. i see our herd of buffalo here but rarely get to eat any. i gave the bro living there a gift, and he gave me a gift. i didnt have anything to give the other bro, but my friendship. i made two new friends.

i was in quincy last fall on the retracing of the trail of death.  back in 1838  potawatomis were marched thru there at gun point. they were kept isolated from the local populace because they didnt want any liquor to reach them. they ferried them across the mississippi. at that point many knew they wouldnt see their homeland again.

the other archaeologist of the tour gave me his card. i gave him mine. he has a friend on the illinois river. the guy owns the land that senajwin is buried on, he was a headman of the potawatomi. i told the archaeologist i want to go see that mound where our ancestor is buried. he said he would arrange it with the landowner. that is a future road trip.

now i have chores to catch up with……

been going to graduations, even missed a couple.  lotsa injuns getting diplomas. last nite i went to the 8th grade graduation cuz my niece kek graduated, as did a few nephews. kek is the first one i ever named at a ceremony. i never forget that.  there were 18 indians in that class.  they will be in high school next year.  kinda reminded me when i was in high school. there were about that many that were in my class. i was the only injun that graduated from mayetta high 4 years later. some transferred and my brother larry dropped out to go to viet nam. the odds for graduating are better today. the younger generation is better educated than my generation. that is good. 

 i went to the high school graduation this past sunday. i had a few nephews graduate. i told one that was all the qualification they needed to be elected to tribal council. seen lotsa indians at both graduations. i visited alot and took many pictures. my camera messed up at the high school. i had it replaced before middle school graduation. now i’m good for pictures.

i got my riding mower back yesterday. i will score some decals for it at the next pow wow.  i mowed soon as i got it home. i was done in about an hour and a half.  when i pushed mowed, it took  all day.  quite a difference. i had a friend that used to say ‘whats that chu mok man’ going to think of next. my sons immediately scheduled a volleyball game after the lawn was done. so we should have lotsa young folks over this evening. that should be fun.

i noticed that my corn is sprouting yesterday. my squash hasnt broke ground yet. something got the tomato plants i replaced. the heirloom plants i bought are still making it though. dont know what to do. just replace them again. otherwise my garden is doing fine. so now i am ready for a road trip.

heading to quincy illinois this weekend. will share the road with a few idiots. whenever i hit the road, there are some real knuckleheads out at the same time. you would think by now people would understand not to be texting and using cell phones while driving.

i have been looking forward to this trip for awhile. i will be on a bus tour of about 20 burial mounds. there will be a coupla archaeologists explaining every stop. i think it will be educational. at least they wont be saying stupid  things like aliens built the mounds. or they were built to honor their ”gods”. some people just cant believe indians are capable of doing something like that. or knew the concept of a single God. i always say you cant blame someone for being ignorant, but staying ignorant is wrong.

gotta pick up my meds before i skate out. i have to applaud our clinic. when you run out of your prescription, you call them up and tell them what you need. then they have a drive up window. that is real convenient. lately i have had constant pain in my lower back and hips. so i gotta have my pills before i leave. i aint old but my body tells me to slow down.

i heard they gonna use a picture of me, gary and larry posing with a buffalo head in the gathering program. it looked like a buffalo was standing behind us. i like that picture.we were just clowning around. i noticed that about 30 people jumped up to take our picture that time.  it was taken at forest county when the potawatomi gathering was there.  i still think of larry all the time.

still got a few things to do before heading out……

been wondering about where the humming birds were, and i seen them this week. the weather has warmed up.  i seen two of them at the feeder hanging outside my bedroom window. i hung it there so i can watch them. i have another one hanging outside my screened in porch.  hung it there for the same reason. 

 even though there is enough nectar in the feeder for all of them, they fight over who gets to feed. kinda reminds me of fort indians. if they would just learn to share, everyone would get a taste. i probably will get some more feeders to hang in the backyard. i have my butterfly bushes and humming bird vines back there. i have seen the birds feeding on them.

i like to watch the humming birds fly around. they look neat. i remember an old man said they are called ma mo kah. 

i went to see angels and demons today. it is the first day released. i have been waiting for it to come out. i read the 700 page book. i enjoyed the first movie..the da vinci code. the scenes in the two movies reminded me of my trip to europe. i got to see some of the places in the movies. the sistine chapel, the louvre, notre dame, the pantheon and other places. i have been off the rez a few times.

needed a break. been going to town all week. my wife had gall bladder surgery. so i was in and out of the hospital all week. we had lotsa visitors. and found out who all had the same surgery. i missed a cookout for my nephew. but then there is anutha cookout for a niece and a coupla nephews tomorrow. i havent had time to get my 2 mile walk in. i will pick it up next week. my grass grew back in no time. luckily my riding mower is ready to be picked up. i have kept up with feeding my animals.

i noticed there were some deer tracks in my garden. deer havent become a problem. if they do, they will end up as jerky and a hand drum. i picked some fresh strawberries today. just a handful. more will follow. my injun beans have sprouted also.  the rain we have been getting will help make everything grow.  the rest of what i planted should sprout this next week.

nen we zhek are growing fast this year.  will pick some soon. same with gooseberries. that is my favorite pie. all the early things are growing fast. time will tell what the rest of the growing season will be like. when u live with nature, you learn to accept what comes.

i havent seen any hummingbirds yet this spring. they should be back by now. might have something to do with the cool weather we have had. i filled my feeders. i also planted some salvia’s. humming birds are drawn to them for the nectar. then they find the feeders. one year one of them got caught in my toolshed. it couldnt find its way out. so i caught it and released it. it flew off. that was something to hold one of them in my hand. i suppose an animal expert will say they arent to be handled, but it wasnt getting out of the shed. and it was expending alot of energy flying in circles and bumping the windows. i thought it was a humane thing to do. i usually have about 5 of them that feed here every year. i have hummingbird vines that climb up my chicken house, and i have a coupla butterfly bushes. i like to watch the little birds fly. i even taped them with my cam corder. got some footage of them feeding. i usually have alot of birds in my yard. they eat with my chickens. i like to hear them sing.

we had a big cookout sunday. probably had around 40 people. lotsa food. and volleyball. it is nice to have company. before everyone came i planted 36 hills of squash. i will dry them when they are ready.  and today i replanted some tomatoes. i lost a few plants, that dont happen often. ringworms i bet. i was told to use epsom salt so i did. another dude told me to put a nail next to them, so i did that too. i dont want to lose any more plants. if they make it i will have alot of tomatoes.

i noticed while i was out in the garden that my greenbeans are sprouting. so are my gourds. i have eaten some of my spinach and onions already. the potatoes are looking good. they havent flowered yet. it took them about a month to break ground. it normally takes about a week for them to sprout. the cool and damp weather we had made them late this year, but they are thriving now. so are the onions, cabbages, lettuce, and spinach. i have everything planted now. that is a nice feeling to have. it is a feeling of accomplishment to know the garden is in. just have to wait to see what produces.

i have a coupla graduation dinners to go to this week. and graduations. then got a road trip coming up. seems there always is something. sometimes i hear people say they are bored. i aint got time to be bored.

i put on the beatles tune ”happy birthday” and then played the fleetwoods ”happy, happy birthday baby” to celebrate my birthday today. young people call me old and old people call me young. i can agree with both. i feel young but my body tells me i am getting older. in actuality, i am 57. dylan said dont look back. but i have many times. i am lucky to be alive. i thought i wouldnt live to see the age of 30. booze, drugs and violence almost killed me. but i am still here. a good friend that is gone now asked me how old i was two years ago. i replied ‘55 and still alive’. he laughed so i added ‘cuz i know how to survive’. he laughed again so i said ‘and that aint no jive’. we both got a kick out of that. most of my real down bros are gone now. i thank God he allowed me to hang around this long.

i got a few texts already wishing me a happy birthday. one said and happy mothers day. i answered ‘ i have been called a mother….’  i share this day with all the mothers. i wish each one a happy day. everyday. my dear mother is gone now, but i think of her all the time. we were fortunate in that we had a ceremony to adopt a great lady to take our mothers place on this earth. people better appreciate what their mothers have done for them. we dont get to keep them forever. well in our hearts yeah…

this is bono’s birthday too. no, not that guy that sang with cher. the other guy. i met him once in nyc. i was there on a march for my bro leonard. i asked bono ‘can i take your picture, brother’. he said ‘i would be honored’.  so i have that somewhere in my photos i have taken. we need more like him that are trying to make this a better world.

we are having a cookout today. for me and my daughter. we are having lotsa young folks over for a volleyball game. i gave up playing games. but i love to watch young people having fun. i will do some of the cooking. it is always nice to have guests. that is what makes this a home. it drizzled a little this morning and last night. hope that wont stop the volleyball.

that moisture we got will help the corn we planted yesterday. my sons came home to help get it planted. they have worked in the garden since they were old enough to walk. we put in 20 rows of corn. 100 foot rows. if we dont get any, it wont be cuz we didnt put the work in. some plant excuses. not us. i only have my warm weather things left to plant. my pumkins, beans and melons. can take my time with that, the ground needs to warm up some. most of my main crops are in.  so if it rains…to quote the beatles ”let it be”.

gotta get ready for a long day….

i was getting back from my 2 mile walk the other day and i seen a horse in my hayfield. no no i dont smoke it no mo. it really was a horse. it ran thru my garden. luckily that part wasnt planted yet. then it took off toward the road. i didnt think anything more about since it wasnt in my garden plants. later  ko nu gish starting barking so i looked out. the horse was back. so i called tribal. wasnt too long before the animal control guy showed. in just a short while he was leading the horse out. i guess he was taking it to my neighbors place to have him hold it til they figured out who owned it. i was impressed the guy got here so fast and had the horse in control. i was concerned cuz the horse was running into the road. several cars went by and spooked it. got thing they caught it.

i had a coupla visitors yesterday. they work with the potawatomi language at anutha band’s program. we talked for about 6 hours since we share a common interest. they were here for a meeting with our language people. they trying to set up what is gonna happen during the language part of the potawatomi gathering. i wondered out loud why the nation as a whole (i dont see each band as a nation unto itself) cant save the language. we have over 50,000 potawatomi and are worth over half a billion. with that kind of resources why is the language in danger of dying out. they are several programs across the language working toward saving the language. i dont hear it much. so it was nice to talk to others that were concerned about all that. i am not affliated with any of the programs in existence. kinda got my own trip going. and it aint cuz i ‘dont play well with others’.

i am currently re watching ‘milepost 398′. it is an independant production that features the two injun comedians i seen down in the southwest. i really enjoyed the movie. it is a hellva statement about alcoholism in the indian community. indians dont like to admit we have that problem in our midst. like if we ignore it, it will magically go away. that hasnt happened. most tribes like to point out their symbols of wealth like new buildings and equipment. like this is what we got. and they tend to forget about our social problems. wrong attitude. if you havent seen this film, go out and get it. watch it, show it to your kids. and parents. i firmly believe if our people gave up alcohol and drugs some of our problems would disappear overnight. not all but some. the overuse of these is just a symptom of a greater ill.

i have all of my garden in now except my corn and pumpkin. i like to dry alot of them to store for the coming year. the rain has stopped me from putting them in. the ground just dont dry out enough for me to till and plant. there is still plenty of time though so i aint sweating it. i will get them in. the rain has been very beneficial to the things i have already planted. they are thriving. i ate some of my spinach already, and some onions.

i finally got back to sorting porky hair. been so busy. gotta get it sorted so i can mass produce some fine roaches before the gathering. i hope to have a stand then. i had quite a bit of interest from this website, but after i quote a price they back off. i think my prices are more than fair. i wont give them away. my craft is an art. i would put my work up against most that i have seen. my work all sells though so i aint worried.

that movie i have on in the background made me laugh. they playing country music. it reminded me of when i was down in the southwest. at the injuns casinos they had western bands playing. and injuns dressed up like cowboys and dancing to the music. back in the day, country music would set us off. when it came on, so did the fights. sometimes we left the bar in shambles after country music came on. guess we were some crazy injuns.

finally got my riding mower to the shop. my nephew took it down there. now some of my relatives and friends can quit avoiding me. i dont need to ask them again. i wont know how to act. riding the mower instead of pushing it. if i had the bucks i would have the guy add some hydraulics to it. would be the only skin around with a low rider mower. the rain has made the grass grow real fast. cant keep up with it.

the week is almost over. cant wait to see what next week brings.

today is my daughter’s birthday. wont say how old she is cuz that would date me. if i could only have one daughter and i got to pick,  i would pick her. she is everything a man could want in a daughter. she is pretty and smart. definitely got more sense than her dad. i have no doubt that my children will surpass me in what they do. happy birthday wabeno.

if its her birthday then that means mine is coming up in a few days. my nephew asked me if there was a cookout for me. i said i dont know. it would be a surprise if there was. when you get to be my age, you dont do much celebrating. turn the page and move on.

i know that it is time to plant corn. i use my birth date as a reminder it is time. i will plant alot of rows this year. the ground is all ready. most of my garden is in now, all except pumpkins and corn. i dont know if the ground is warm enough yet. but  i will go ahead and put them in.

i almost forgot. the other day when i was up by white cloud i seen a big snapping turtle while i was driving along the missouri river. i couldnt turn around for a bit, by the time i got back to where that shi keh was, it was gone. that was fast. i didnt think a turtle could move that fast. all the rain that we have is causing them to move. i told some of my homeboys to drop them off here if they found any and didnt want to mess with them. i have cleaned about half a dozen each spring the past few years. i save that one bone from the turtle to keep snakes away. i made about 10 of them into necklaces and gave them all away. gotta make some more this year. i have already seen a few snakes. i have told people that its the ones that walk upright are the ones to be concerned about.

and speaking of deceptively fast. when i ate at the buffet the other day, there were just mainly old people there. i know i am old too,  but these ones were older than me. when the line opened i thought i was gonna get trampled by them old people. i think God made casinos and buffets to keep old people off the street.

i am still getting used to face book. i have been asked to join several groups. or get inquiries bout something or other. then when i go to accept,  it says something like ‘by accepting you give permission to use your contacts and other information’.  or something like that. it weirds me out. i grew up during the sixties. giving up access to personal info is asking alot. so i dont join. the people on my friend list must think i am strange. or cold blooded. i dont have anything on my page that i wouldnt want made public. its just the idea of it all. hope they understand.

i just got thru mowing the yard for the second time. the rain made it grow back fast. my riding mower went tribal. and i cant get anyone to take it to the shop to have it fixed. i read somewhere that we should give up the riding mowers cuz we overweight, and push mowers made us exercise more. i dont have a choice, since mine aint working. so i push mowed the yard and i have a big yard. it is about an acre. thats alot of exercising. i need that tho. i bought a t shirt down in alberqueqe. i had to ask for pow wow size. thats 2x. they charge more. probably cuz they use more material.

i have been so busy, i havent had time to do my roach head dress business. will get back to that when i am all caught up with the chores that need to be done. being injun is hard work. maybe thats why some dont want to be one.