Reznjun

i went to the mayetta high school reunion last night. it was the first time i went to one of them. a few years ago our class had a reunion. i enjoyed the evening. we had a social hour before and  after dinner. i talked to many that graduated from mayetta high. i found that most have lived in the area all these years.

the class i graduated with was one of the honored classes. its been 40 years since we graduated. there were four of us from our class present. we were given a coffee cup with a picture of the old high school on it. i was also given another one for being the youngest grad there. they introduced each class and everyone was given an opportunity to address all present. i wore my t shirt with the mayetta high logo on it. our class reprinted them for our reunion. the mayetta alumni association liked the shirt and decided they will sell them as a fund raiser. i was the first to sign up for a new shirt. i also ordered a history of mayetta high from them. it has all the graduating classes and many old pictures in it. i wanted one as soon as i heard they would be available. it is history.

i went outside with the smokers for a break. the topic turned to politics. the discussion became quite lively. they were a wide range of opinions. it seems many in this country are fed up with how the politicians are doing things. lot of discontent. i wonder if washington is aware of this. i doubt it. they keep themselves insulated from the people.

before i went to the reunion i took my dog to get a rabies shot and a flea/tick dip. while there they warned that a storm was coming with high winds. i didnt think anything of it since this is kansas. me and mary were smoking outside when the winds came. dont know how fast they were but they snapped some limbs off the trees in the yard. the trees were bent in about a 45 degree angle from the winds. it was the kind of storm that makes you put your sema down. not much else you can do.

i got home before dark and was sitting outside. i noticed lightning bugs in our hay field. they were hundreds and hundreds of them everywhere. i just watched them. that was the most i seen at one time. it was neat to watch them. i remember as a kid catching them and putting them in a jar. they would end up dying. kids dont know any better.

it rained again last night. the gardens i put in will really grow now. they will make me look like i know what i am doing. good weather makes good gardeners. the rain will also bring the weeds up. i just finished weeding the garden. will have to start over again….

i about forgot about this. last weekend when i was going to the pow wow i seen this buffalo. looked like he was having trouble so i backed up. seen the critter was caught up in the fence. so i called someone who called someone else that called someone else so someone would go get the buffalo untangled.  i later drove by to see if it was still stuck but it was gone. so in a round about way i helped the buffalo out.

saturday i take my dog over to get a rabies and distemper shot. they will have a flea and tick dip too. i think that is a great service they provide. i took konugish last year. usually i never hear bout things til they are over. i have a tribal email now so i hear some things.

i was driving home today and seen one of my neighbors walking. i stopped and asked him if he needed a ride. he jumped in and said yeah. his pickup ran out of gas at the notorious n road dumpster. i took him home to get his gas can. he filled his pickup with a coupla gallons of gas and primed the carbuerator. it still didnt start. another native stopped and checked it out. three of us indians looking at the motor didnt make it start. so i took the guy home. he was gonna call somebody. it was too hot for the old boy to be out there walking. later the truck was gone so he musta got it home.

i ordered a new computer from a friend. it will be faster, have more ram, at least twice as much memory, be able to burn dvds and will have windows 7. i will use it to teach my kids more language. they are getting good at it. i have a good speaker system on my old computer i will recycle. gotta have my jams. this ol rez injun gotta have that new technology.

after i ordered my computer i went over to get some eats for the game. got a full rack of ribs, fries and seafood gumbo. been eating healthy so i deserved a treat. only thing that tasted better than that was another laker championship. that was good after the jayhawks didnt win this year.

one more day of work this week. need a weekend for a change….

i scored me a new air brushed shirt advertising my site. kinda hate to wear it because i dont want to get it dirty. still thinking we had a good pow wow. i watched the dvd i burned a few times. i didnt tape very many singing groups. only had one battery charged since i hadnt planned on taping til the last minute. then i didnt push the long play button or sumthin. so the tape only lasted 60 minutes instead of 120. one hour of tape is better than nothing.

i counted about 10 roaches at our pow wow that were made by me. i dont know how many i made over the years. too many to count probably. i still get the ‘how bout indian price’ thing. in other words i am suppose to sell my art cheap cuz im indian. i do enough business that i dont have to. i just got another shipment of porky hair from a trapper i do business with. it is nice hair. i like to buy direct from trappers and cut out the middleman. the indian supply houses charge too much for too little.

when i drive i like to cruise. i am in no hurry to get anywhere. on my last trip i noticed i kept getting passed up by old people in buicks. i wondered where the hell they gotta be in such a rush. at that age if you havent gotten there by now maybe you wont be.

my high school reunion this weekend. i plan on going. i meet people that have gone to mayetta high now and then. the social network sites dont even list mayetta high. it burned down years ago so its like it didnt even exist. i still wear a t shirt my class had reprinted. it shows the indian logo and mhs on it. i guess now that is racist or sumthin. but we were the mayetta indians. damn proud of that. hell with the bleeding hearts. i wonder how many of them have seen the racism i have.

i was weeding the garden at work yesterday and it got a little warm. as i walked in i told a few fellow workers i was sweating like a worthless politician before an election.

i am making plans to go to the crow fair this year. it is one of the few big pow wows i havent been to. my contract will be about over by then. i probably will pass on the gathering so i can go there instead. not much to do at the gatherings anyway ‘cept sit around and wait to eat. i want to do some taping at the  crow fair. they have lotsa teepees and chicken dancers. maybe on the way there i can stop at a hot springs to soak.

i have weeding to do all week. hope to get much of that done before the string of 90 degree days come. touristos complain of the kansas heat but i am used to it. dont seem that hot to me. whining bout the heat dont make it better…

we had a good pow wow this year as always. it probably is my favorite pow wow. so far this year it is the only i have been to. usually i would have gone to a couple by now. we get rain almost every year. it doesnt stop our pow wow. i think ours is one of the best in the area. we draw good singing groups and good dancers. and we get to visit with many of our people. i took alot of pictures and done some video taping. i already burned a dvd.

i didnt go back on sunday. i had work to catch up with here. the rain made my lawn grow. it had to be mowed again. the weeds in my garden took off too. the door on my chicken house needing fixing. the list goes on. sometimes there never seems to be enough time in the day.

the gardens i helped plant are coming up real good. i checked them out and seen most of the seeds have sprouted and broke ground.  now the hard part. to wait and see what will produce. got alot of weeding to do. suckers to pull off. etc. i will be busy. now i have several gardens to worry about. not used to that. i wouldnt have been able to do this a few years ago. i was in constant back pain. i got sore from every physical activity i did. being active and the meds i took have helped alot. now i am able to do it. all the activity is helping me lose some weight. a plus.

i picked some gooseberries yesterday after work. they are from the bushes i planted in the tree line in my backyard. they arent producing alot right now but will in the future. i have a combination of wild and tame berry bushes. i like them mixed. they taste better that way i think. me and mary were stemming them til news was over. i dont know if it is late in the year for them or not. not many were red or soft.

gotta get ready to head to work….

got back from training in time for our pow wow. i went to tulsa for traditional gardening. it was a nice getaway. i gave a presentation about our tribe and our program. i also did a short video clip about how i got into gardening. they showed that to the rest of the group. i also listened to what the other tribes were doing.  it was all about trying to persuade indians to have a better diet and to exercise. i have thought that for years. we can do something about our health. why wait until we develop complications. if we can catch it early we may be able to do something about it. like the old saying goes ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’

on the drive down the song ‘24 hours from tulsa’ came to mind. i have heard so many songs. just need something to trigger the memory of them. i seen some young indian running on the roadside. some kind of spiritual run i gathered. a van following the runner cautioned that runners were ahead.

it was hot yesterday so i waited at our casino for it to cool off before heading to the pow wow. that cost me a few bucks.  i walked around the pow wow grounds and checked out the stands. i bought a few things. a t shirt, a roll of artificial sinew for my roach tying and some conchos for my otter turban. i stopped and visited with people i knew. seen a stand that does airbrushing that i have bought from at our past pow wows. i put in a order for a new t shirt that will have a picture of a roach and my web address on it.

early this morning i heard it raining. it rained for awhile. dont know what effect it will have on our pow wow. seems it rains often during our pow wow. i didnt camp for that reason. no matter the show must go on. i will still go and enjoy myself.

the rain will benefit our gardens. i checked out the one i had at the health center. many of the seeds i planted have sprouted. so have the weeds. my own garden is doing good though it is weedy. i will produce lotsa food this year maybe. wont know til a few months from now. i planted some soy beans where my sema used to grow. i left it fallow last year and put soy in this year. next year i will plant sema there again.

i have lost a few pounds since last winter. i am trying to eat better and to exercise more. it is slowly paying off. now if i can just give up the cigars…..

last night mary and i went to a memorial walk sponsored by the cancer society. my daughter wabeno was working at her companys stand. they had been raising money for research the past year. other companies had been also. it was held at a high school track. all along both sides of the track were the names of people lost to cancer. later that night they were to light a candle in the bags to light the track up. my mother in law angie and sister in law freda had their names included in the memorial.

they opened up by having a survivors walk for all those that survived cancer. they filled up half the track. as they walked by everyone stood up and gave them an ovation. i recognized one of the survivors. i didnt know she had been thru that. i waved at her and she smiled back. there were people from all walks of life there. all ages and races. cancer affects many. one of the speakers said we all know someone that had cancer.  after they made a lap the rest of the people joined in the walk. it went on for hours. mary and i walked with wabenos company team. we walked for 2 and 1/2 miles. as we walked by some of the survivors applauded the rest of the walkers in appreciation.

after we finished our walk we visited some of the stands. we bought several items. some said part of the money they are raising is going toward cancer research. they thanked us for supporting them. i wanted a t-shirt that had the walk logo on it but couldnt find one.

i finished my 4th week on the job as gardener. i am now finished with planting two gardens. the language program does their own garden. one garden measures 54 feet by 150 feet. the other measures 66 feet by 150 feet. i planted 26 rows of our corn. the language garden has my corn seed in it as well as my own. i am happy our seed is continuing on.  i planted many mounds of other vegetables in the gardens. i have over 15 different kinds of vegetables planted. not maybe, might, gonna. they in the ground. the weather guy predicts rain. i say let it rain. my gardens will benefit.

the land department fixed me some trellises for the indian pole beans i planted. they did a good job. i wish i had some like that. mine is rigged up with discarded tent poles that go up my chicken house. we have 3 different kinds of indian beans. the land dept gave me bales of straw that i used to mulch my crooked neck squash patch. i will cover the ground where my melons, cukes and other squash are growing. i cant say enough for the cooperation i have received from other tribal workers. it over rides the few that havent responded to requests i made.

my own garden has gotten weedy because i am tired when i get home. i tilled it and got most of the weeds out. i still have some space that needs to be filled. i bought some tomato plants. it is not too late for them. the ground is has just warmed up after a cool spring. almost a late spring.

mary and i were walking the other day and we seen two young deer. they were walking toward us just about 50 feet away. they didnt seem concerned with us at all. then konugish got it in his mind he was gonna catch one. he took off after them. it didnt happen. one rainy evening we seen a beaver near our house. i was concerned i hadnt seen any of the 5 i watched last year. glad to  know there is still at least one left.

last week i cleaned three turtles. as i finished them some one brought me  another one. so i have to clean it also. when i was at work friday i got a call that there was one crossing a rez road. knowing i had 4 in the bag i declined but thanked the caller. i had a report i had to finish. i gotta give a presentation at a traditional gardening meeting next week in tulsa. my mind immediately went to hard rock and creek nation when i heard that. will check them out. i am a contract worker which means i dont get any bennies. when the tribe takes out i dont get to. a free trip is my only bennie. all i can say is pass me my per diem.

posting that last batch of roaches on my site has paid off. i sold one and am waiting on payment of another. some dude says he is buying a third. but then he has said that for a month and it aint happened yet. thing is i gotta find the time to keep on making them. one of the trappers i score porky hair from emailed me he had almost 6 ounces of hair left. i wondered why he didnt sell me any during the past season. i hadnt heard from another old man that has kept me supplied the last few years. hope he is alright.

gotta finish my gardening and packing for my road trip…..

just finished up my third week on the job. i am glad i took the job. i just never wanted to work for the tribe. i had a few times in the past and didnt like it. too many little power games by some extremely insecure people. this time around i am enjoying it. alot of my misconceptions about the system have cleared up. others were confirmed. but then who said life would be easy.

i have been planting warm weather crops. i think the ground is just warm enough now. it had been cool. i got a kick out of a comment the other day. i was planting corn and a passerby asked who was going to water it. i said i have had a garden for 26 years and i depend on rain. she said they planted corn before and no one took care of it and they didnt get anything. i passed on the opportunity to pick my gear up and quit since i was doomed to failure anyway. instead i told the lady ‘well if it dont grow, it wont be because i didnt try’. she nodded and left. i dont understand the negativity of some people. i know there is no guarantee in gardening but i do it anyway. i dont go into it thinking i will fail. i always bank on having success. our program got a directive from a ‘higher up’ that our gardening WILL succeed this year. it will succeed because i will give it a hellva go. not because some pencil pusher issued a command.

the comment also shows where some are in todays world. i work on a ‘traditional’ (whatever that means) gardening program. long ago they didnt have garden hose and outdoor faucets. they grew crops without them. now some think we can only do things the modern way. no doubt having modern methods available when there is no rain is very beneficial. maybe its not just one or the other.

i gave some of my seed corn to the three tribal gardens. i am all for growing our own corn. our ancestors wouldnt have kept it all these years if they didnt want us to have it. the genetics of it is selected to withstand the extremes of weather conditions. it was heirloom before the term existed. i have 12 105 foot rows of it growing in my garden. so i know there are 4 gardens with the seed i had. i remember an old lady told me ‘corn is our life, once we quit growing it that is the end of our life.’ taken at face value some of our people just let that comment pass. we use corn and pumpkin in most of our ceremonies. they are our sacred foods. i am also planting alot of our indian beans. when i was hired to do a traditional garden i took that to heart.

while i am thinking traditional gardening and recycling cans and plastic untold gallons of oil is spilling into the gulf. i say lets do away with the suspense and hand the oil company a blank check from stimulus money. we reward big businesses failures with hundreds of billions of dollars. after we bail them out they can jack up prices to cover loses and increase their profit. they wont share in profits but are kind enough to pass the costs on to us. the greedy bastards.

sometime this weekend i have to catch up on my yard and garden. the garden is getting weeds and my lawn has to be mowed again. i also have two turtles to clean. some one told me they were looking forward to a 4 day weekend. i said i didnt have a weekend. the days just run into each other. thats okay it is what keeps me going…..

was heading to work today and i spotted a shikeh. i pulled over and tossed him in the trunk. later at work i got a call from wetase and they said they had one too if i wanted it. i said sho nuff and went over to pick it up. the program i am working on also promotes eating our native foods. i know from growing up on the rez we ate turtle. so now i have two to clean. my program has to put on a cooking demo sometime. maybe i will fix one of these. them country injuns will eat that up.

working on the tribal gardening program kinda keeps me away from my own garden. it still produces. the mailman told me it was looking good. we picked about half a gallon of radishes this evening. my spinach is ready to pick. i eat fresh strawberries whenever i feel like it. i have a bed of sage i can pick anytime. my cabbages are getting big. i have rows of vegetables that are growing good. as soon as i made it home from my last road trip the first thing i noticed was my corn had come up. my sema is growing good. i gotta make time to weed the garden next.

speaking of my last road trip on the way home i had to go check out a casino. it was called terribles. for good reason. it was a terrible place to stop. lost a few bucks. had a good breakfast there tho. i added to my players card collection. like i really need some more.

i met a friend on my trip. i returned his manuscript to him. i was asked if there were any changes i would recommend. i said no, its his story. he can tell it better than anyone. he asked me about how my book was coming along. i said i am working on it when i get a chance. he encouraged me to keep at it. i agreed. i have alot of friends that are writers. they all tell me that. not many indian authors. i want to join their ranks as a published author. thats been one of my dreams for a long time.

i got a notice from the mayetta alumni association. it gave june 19th as the reunion. i called and made a reservation. no offense to my indian friends. i will go since my class is one of the honored classes. i am now keeping in touch with my classmates thru the net. wish i had kept i touch with them over the years. they are all good people.

my job keeps me amused. i kinda enjoy doing it. gotta get ready for it….

george mary me steve bob

got home from visiting mounds in the state of illinois. i am fortunate in that i know a couple of guys that are archaeologists. they know where alot of the mounds are located from their work. i have known dave and steve awhile now. i consider them friends. i went on the mound tour last year in quincy. dave said he knew a place where a potawatomi chief named senajwen was buried. i commented that i would like to see it someday. and forgot about it. a month or so ago steve asked me to come back to quincy for another mound tour. i said yeah. then i found out dave made arrangements  to visit where senajwen was buried.

i left the rez last thursday. had to miss work friday. since i am a contract worker that meant no pay. the trip i took was worth more to me than money. i had a great time and met alot of great people. money cant buy that.

friday mary and i rode with steve and dave on a three and a half hour drive north of quincy. we drove along the illinois river. all along the way they would point out where the mounds were located. if i had been driving i would have totally missed them. i got like a crash course as they described the sites, who built them, how old they were etc. i am always open to learning something new. on the way we past the general area where komo’s village was located.

we arrived at the farm where senajwens village was located. the farm had been in the same family since the 1890s. they took good care of it and the site where senajwen was buried. he is buried on top of a hill that has a series of mounds on it. they predate potawatomi occupation of the site. long ago potawatomis marked the spot where they laid senajwen to rest. it overlooks the valley where his village was. i stood on the hill and was amazed that i was where some of my people came from. i was also aware that senajwen and some of his braves were buried there. senajwen is the grandfather of my misho nagmo. i felt a connection to the place. the owner of the land and the archaeologists left me to spend time on the hill. i had brought my pipe along for the occasion. i smoke with our ancestors on the hill. i felt at peace in doing that. i hope they did too. i left them some sema.

after i came down from the hill i was allowed to see the museum on the grounds. it housed many artifacts that were found over the years. i enjoyed looking at them. i took many pictures of them. many of the items dated back hundreds and even thousands of years. i thanked george and his brother bob for allowing me to spend time there. i really did appreciate that. they said to come back if i am ever in the area. i said i would.

on the way back we stopped at a site where they said was ground zero for the hopewell civilization. it started there and spread out. there was a big mound there. the museum was closed. in the old days some used to exploit the sites. a family that called the land theirs lay open the graves and charged admission for the curious to come look at the skeletal remains. that practice was stopped. the artifacts are still there though. i didnt get to see them or the sites that housed where the remnants of ceremonial lodges were.

the next day, saturday, i went back to visit the mounds located in quincy. they are cleaning the sites up. they had become overgrown with trees and vegetation. some have been cleared of them. more will also be cleared in the future.  the bluff where the mounds were built has a great view overlooking the river. plans are to restore the site to closely look like it did originally.

i met and talked with most of the ones on the tour. i met some of them previously. they were all good people. i was asked to say a prayer in my language. i did. they were all were respectful of it. we had a meal when we were done. i didnt want the day to end. i had a great time.

now it is back to the grind…..

a classmate of mine sent this picture of me from back in high school. i dont remember being that young and innocent. well i was starting to lose my innocence by then. i started to rebel against all that insanity from parochial boarding school. i think my class is one of the ones being honored at this years high school reunion. i plan on going if i can. i am in touch with my classmates now. facebook and email.

i was talking to a home girl at the health center. we were talking bout my job there as traditional gardener. i said hell i do this for nothing. now they paying me for it. she said at least i am doing something i love. i agreed. it is such an easy job. i could garden in my sleep.

i work with the language program and senior citizens in my work. i delivered plants to them. they were tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers and other things.  i also dropped off some of the seed from my corn and indian beans  and wild onion seed. this program is suppose to be about returning to using native foods. i said we have our own seed and foods we eat. i believe we should grow and pick them.

so far i have started about 300 seeds of various vegetables. they are all heirloom seeds. i will share them with the other programs and transplant some in the garden behind the clinic. i have set out two rows of plants including tomatoes, peppers, cukes, squash, zucchini and tomatillo. i also planted potatoes, onions, zucchini, carrots, radishes, onions, green beans, spinach, lettuce and amish melons. i will continue to plant other things. i have only been on the job 7 days. so i got a hellva start.

tomorrow i am hanging out at the casino for the wellness fair. if someone wants to come talk about gardening or whatever check me out. i will be there most of the day. thursday i am hanging out with some of our seniors on a field trip. we are going out to pick nenwezhek. that ought to be a fun excursion. i will take pictures of our outing. i take pictures of everything to document what i am doing. i also keep a daily log of what i am up to. thats in case i get the third degree from someone. i can lay it all out there. this injun got educated.

i have notice that many people have been giving me gardening advice. i listen to them. i am always learning. on the other hand i would put my garden up against anyones. i grow enough food to last most of the year. i can, dry and freeze alot of what i grow. i also pick wild foods our people ate. i will share what ever knowledge about such things as i can with people. i take my job serious.

i am up for a road trip. heading out to the mound tour this weekend. that should be fun….