Reznjun

last night we had our harvest feast, sponsored by the Diabetes Prevention Program. it was held at the old bingo hall. it turned out to be a success. we had a good turnout-couple hundred people. the food was great. we had so many volunteers that helped with cooking, donating food and clean up.

the meal is part of our “Return to a Healthy Past” grant. the idea is if we returned to the diet of our ancestors we would be healthier. or at least eat some of the foods they ate. our old people have said that alot of the sickness we have today is because of the food we eat. indians didnt have refined sugar, bleached flour, fried foods,  junk food and all the chemicals that are in food today. we wanted to encourage peole to eat healthy, exercise and get screening.  that was the message.

we had a good meal. all the food was donated by the community or grown in our gardens. the buffalo was donated by the tribe. that was a treat. even though we have a large herd i dont get to taste any of “our” buffalo. the tribe generously gave us about 80 pounds of meat that we cooked. hunters gave us deer, raccoon and turtle. we also had fish. we served dried corn, dried pumpkin and hominy that we grew. we had wild onions and ninwezhek that was picked on the rez. we had wild rice that was traded from our relatives up north. community members brought pies and side dishes. everything tasted great.

i was taping the event for our program, so i didnt get to eat much. many said it was good to get together to eat and be with our people. one said it was the event of the year. many used potawatomi words in describing their favorite foods. we had a young boy sing happy birthday in potawatomi. after everyone left there were young kids cleaning the tables off. all present said they enjoyed the feast. it was a long day but i enjoyed everything too.

normally i just post pictures i take or photos of me doing something. i found this older black and white picture of some potawatomi dancers back in the day. two of the dancers are my uncles and a couple are my cousins. i remember all the ones in the photo, most of them are gone now.

we are having our harvest feast this week. that should keep me busy. been gearing up for that the past week. we went and bought groceries for it last week. mostly ingredients for the cooking we will have to do. that will be all day monday. we are lucky that some people volunteered to help cook.  then we have  thanksgiving this week but will have to work friday. the tribe gets both days off. i was shocked they didnt close  last week when we got a few snow flakes.

i finally sold a roach recently. some guy told me to save it for him. was definitely gonna pick it up. after a few months went by i gathered that he really wasnt going to buy it so i sold it.  a roachmaker needs a violin at times. we hear all kinds of sad stories. times are tough for us too. because i am indian i am suppose to give away my roaches for nothing. indians dont lay that down on non native dealers.  they dont ask them for the “indian price”. they fail to realize that dealers buy roaches from native artists then mark the price up big time.  at the very least they double their money. most mark the price up more than that. so in the end they get more money for the roach than the artist that makes it. indians accept that. some dont want to support native artists. some spend thousands of dollars on an outfit but want a roach ‘cheap’. it is a small price compared to a fully beaded outfit. it will last years if taken care of and will retain its value. prices on roaches have constantly gone up in the past 30 years.  i just dont understand why some want to beat the roachmakers down on prices. roach makers have to make a living too. they have kids and bills etc.  and live in the same tough economy. i feel take my price or take a hike. i only sell my art if i feel like it.

today i had to cut meat off a hind quarter that my nephew gave me. it was his first deer. so going along with our tradition he gave all the meat away. this will insure that he be successful on future hunts. i was glad my nephew thought of me. i got done with that and another nephew brought me some more deer meat. he told me he would get me one.  so we skinned it, gutted it and hung it. it will hang for a few days then i will cut the meat off the bone. may make some more jerky with that. its too bad i dont have my smoke house built. just got to get to town to buy the posts and boards. not easy when you aint got a pickup to haul it in. back in my militant days i lived with some indians that had a smoke house. we had it going constantly. we would be smoking salmon, sturgeon and deer meat. we caught the fish out of the river and drop the deer in the mountains. we ate good. i got to enjoy the taste of smoked meat. thats why i want to my own smoke house. i know smoked rabbits are good too.

i have three deer hides i have to fix now. its a good thing i stock piled some hand drum frames. i have 9 frames ready to go. just gotta get to the hides. a few of my nephews said they would like to learn how to do that. i told them to come by sometime and i would show them to scrape the hair off and string a hand drum. dont kow if they will show up or not. if they do i will teach them.

i am looking at a 12 hour day tomorrow. heading to work at 8. our harvest feast is at 5 o’clock at the bingo hall. i hope alot of people show up.  that will take a few hours. i will be home after dark. one long day. as long as i got some coffee and a good cheap cigar i should be okay…..better get my rest.

been getting ready for the harvest feast the Diabetes Prevention Program is having monday. we are hoping for a good turn out. i have been inviting everyone i see. so far it sounds like we will have a good crowd. invite indians to come eat and you will get some to show.

the tribe donated two boxes of buffalo meat for us to use. someone gave me a deer. i have a couple of turtles i put away. yesterday someone else brought a raccoon over, so i cleaned it for the feast. we will cook the indian corn i dried from the garden and the hominy i made during a how-to demonstration. i saved dried pumpkin. well actually it is squash but same difference. we will cook nenwezhek and use wild onions in some dishes. we are trying to serve a ‘tradish’ meal. i grew up with alot of the foods we are serving.  ol school rez folks take it for granted sometimes. others havent been exposed to it. so we will serve foods that our people relied on in the past. diabetes became a problem for us when our natural  diet changed. we stopped raising our own foods and quit relying on wild game.

people have generously volunteered to help us with cooking, serving and clean up. many others will bring food. we will be cooking in several locations because we need the stoves to prepare the meal. the language program is moving their last class to attend our feast. i will give the blessing in potawatomi. we are hoping people will feel welcome to come over. i think our people need reasons to come together. we will have good food and an opportunity to visit with each other. we want our people to be aware of how diabetes affects us. we all know someone that has diabetes.

last night i went to the public meeting the language program had. it was nice to see people turn out for it. we could have had a bigger crowd. that is one of the problems with our language–the apathy many of our people have toward the language.  it is in danger because many dont care. i went because i dont want to see the language die out. i was so very fortunate in that i was exposed to it over the course of my life. it is such a beautiful language to hear. i am not fluent but little i know sounds so good to hear. my sister meeks asked me why i dont go to class. she is one of my teachers. i told her i would start going again. i can always learn more. i kinda quit studying the language since my mother left us. she was such a big influence on my learning.

we had our thanksgiving dinner at the health center. i had lotsa fun with my co workers. we work all the time and gotta be ‘professional’.  it was nice to just kick back and enjoy the moment. i laughed with many of them. before we ate i was asked to pray for the food. so i did it in our potawatomi language. i use it because my teachers want me to use it. i owe them that.

every day i have emails that tell me i have new subscribers. i know what that means. i go to my email to delete them. then open my website to delete the new subscribers cuz they are not really wanting to read me. they are spammers. then i go to the comments section and have to delete all the spam that has been posted. it is getting tiring. they cant pay for their own site,  just wanna glom on to what others have built. that is part of the internet.

cant find my usb cord so i cant post a picture for todays blog. it will turn up somewhere. went on another road trip. the place where  i work was closed last week for veterans day. i took the next day off as well so i could help mary drive to south dakota to see a friend. got an email today from some bureaucrat saying contract workers will not be paid for those days. yeah i know that. it aint like lowly contract workers are trying to scam the tribe or anything. we cant get some full time workers with benefits to do anything but sweat contract workers. treat them like second class citizens. we dont like other races to treat us like that but got no qualms bout doing that to ourselves.  cant deport contract workers cuz a few of them i know are  skins. friends are more important than money. the trip was well worth the loss of pay.

we drove to rapid city. on veterans day we were listening to one of the rez’s radio station.  that station was playing indian music. said they were veterans songs. they also called off the names of veterans from their rez. many of them were deceased. i thought that was a fitting tribute to air their names and play honor songs for them. i wonder why we dont have a radio station.

one evening we drove up to the black hills to check out the casinos in deadwood. they werent indian casinos so i dont know what to call them. i went to saloon 10 to see where wild bill hickok was shot. they had the chair that he sat in hanging in a niche in the wall. i took a picture of it like a typical tourist.

i had a friend contact some people from the area to see if i can buy some porcupine hair. the locals see them laying on the side of the road often. my friend will attempt to set me up with people that are willing to get the hair for me. i may post an ad in a few of the indian papers. i went to a indian shop in town to see if they had any porky hair. just one small packet of it and it was short and cost too much. everything in that store cost too much. they make their money from rich turistos, dont really rely on indian business.  on the drive home i seen a porky lying on the shoulder of the road. so i pulled over and tossed it in the trunk. i plucked it after i got home and ended up with about an ounce of hair. i also saved some of the quills. i had mary video tape me getting the hair. i may post it later on my facebook.

while driving home i seen it had snowed in the omaha area. after i got down the road and the snow disappeared i asked mary if we should have washed our face in the snow. we do that every winter with the first snow. old indian trick. i was always told to do that. it is so we wont get sick during the winter.

when i got home i found some turkey feathers someone had left me. also some buffalo rib bones i had asked about. i want to make some indian dice with them. i found a deer hide waiting for me too. i put it in a bucket with some of the rainwater from my rain barrel to soak. i will dehair it and make some hand drums with the rawhide. people are fixing me up good. i told some i wanted turkey beards, pheasant feathers and deer hides. it is starting to pay off. when my contract runs out i have get back to doing my artwork.

got our thanksgiving dinner at work tomorrow.   then next week we have our harvest feast. hope we get lotsa people to help out and show up…..

i got a new phone so i had to open a gmail account to activate it. i had to come up with a user name and another password. i had to think about what user name  since we are discouraged from using our real names on line. then i couldnt think of a password because we arent suppose to use the same ones over.

 it made me wonder about all the user names and numbers we have. when i go to work i have to key in a number to open the door. then i walk in and key in another number when i clock in. i sit down to my computer and key in a password to open it. then i type in a user name to open my email and have to give the password. i now have 4 different email accounts.

 i have another user name and password for my website. got another password for facebook. another password for my voicemail. at stores the clerks ask for my phone number to check on me. then verify my name and other info. my social security number identifies me for payroll and tax purposes. a tribal id number proves i am indian.

all the numbers we use remind me of something else. our exact location can be pinpointed to within 5 feet or so thru the gps on our cell phones. thats accuracy. so why hasnt someone come up with an exact system for time. i have a clock on my radio that i can see from my bed. a clock on the kitchen wall. time on my cell phone. time on the t.v.  the clock i punch in at work has time. my computers i use have clocks. my cars dashboard has a clock. everywhere i go there is a clock. but the thing is they all have a different time. i thought there was such a thing as greenwich time or something. i can be on time for one thing but be late for another. right now i have to hurry and get ready for work since that clock is faster than my clocks.

there is an old johnny rivers song that says they took away your name and gave you a number……one tribe has a prophecy that says one day we wont be known by our names but by something else.  shakespeare would have to change a rose is a rose is a rose to a number is a number is a number.

went to an auction yesterday and spent more than i wanted to, but at least i didnt blew the money at a casino.  i bought some beadwork including this mickey mouse medallin. i got it with several other beadwork pieces with one bid. i bought some hand stamped silver arm bands for 5 bucks. that was my bargain of the day. i will add the arm bands to my indian regalia outfit, i guess.  i out bid others to buy some turquoise rings, baby moccasins, beaded belt, gold filled pocket watches and some tie clips.  i cant wear wrist watches at all. i missed a few bids i wanted.  i seen other things go cheap and wished i had bid on them. that is part of the fun of auctions. never know what things will go for.

 i went to this auction because i seen it listed ‘indian artifacts’. i went to their website and noticed a picture of kack kack, one of the last potawatomis to go into battle with the pawnee. he brought back several scalps from that battle. i was gonna to bid on the large framed original picture but it went by what i was willing to pay in two bids. eventually the picture sold for $650. way more than i had. the auction was from the estate of a holton jeweler and  pawn shop owner. he lived in jackson county most of his life. he collected indian art. i told the man’s grandson about the picture. he was interested in the history of the man.

 i seen a roach on the auction website. i went early to view what was up for sale. the roach was old and had alot of porky hair that was falling out. i didnt bid on it. it went for $30. that was cheap enough but it would have taken some work to fix up. it is easier just to make a new one. i bought a miniature war club that i will redo. i buy things at auctions, flea markets and garage sales that i can use in making indian art. i save them to put on a stand i will have at some pow wows. i noticed that quite a few antique dealers and shop owners go to the same places i go to buy things that they eventually resell at a profit. thats a business strategy for some of them. buy cheap and sell for a profit. a few dealers were buying up all the gold pieces and jewelry. i couldnt compete with them. they come with money to buy up the good stuff.

the world series past by and i didnt place one bet in a pool. that is the first time in years. i use to have pools but that got burned down. somebody ripped some people off in one pool. so now people distrust all pools. they failed to realize that all others paid with the exception of that one. so basically narrow minded thinking killed all pools. no matter who runs them. thats ignorant. i call it the chicken little complex some people have. they afraid to go out cuz the sky is falling. cant enjoy life because they live in fear of something that could possibly happen but is unlikely to.

my aunt gave me a letter that is dated 1938. it was addressed to my great grandfather. it simply said ‘we we sah’ , mayetta kansas and  it was delivered to him. back in that day the postmaster must have known all the rez folks by their potawatomi names. actually they didnt really use english names all that much then. some people in iowa were requesting that my big misho to  come to some festival thing they were having. they wanted indians to add some color to the event. i dont know what the postage cost for that letter. my other aunt collected stamps and had removed it.

will have a short week of work this week. veterans day holiday…

now and then i stop in and visit the senior citizens. i find one or two of the ladies putting puzzles together. i sit and talk with them but havent added any pieces that fit the puzzle yet. we usually just visit and laugh. then i head on to do whatever i am suppose to be doing. i  eat with the seniors now and then. they do have good food. when you have gone hungry in the past, you learn to appreciate what is put in front of you.

i kinda hated to see halloween end. i get my chocolate fix in. seems every where i went someone had candy that they were giving away. my kids are grown so we dont get trick or treat candy anymore. i guess i can buy chocolate any time but i like the small candy bars they have at halloween. don’t want to overdo it.

next week we get off for veterans day. thats on thursday. then its back to work friday. ‘cept the tribe gets both days off. they always get two days off for holidays. i work at the clinic. we dont get friday off even if the tribe does. there is no fairness in that.  i can take the day off but since i am a contract worker i wouldnt get paid for it if i do. contract workers are like secondary citizens in the tribal hierarchy. we dont get diddly. no leave time, no bennies, no nada. gotta clock in when some others dont. etc.  i like my job but can do without some of the bullshit.

i’m going to head to an auction this week end. like i really need some more junk. this one is advertising indian artifacts. i like looking at them but can’t bid with the collectors. they price things out of my range. i seen some pictures of what they have for auction. in one of the pictures is a roach. i am interested in how much that goes for. it looks like an older one. they have a framed picture of a potawatomi. also wonder what that will sell for. they say they have several racks of indian artifacts. seen some chokers that you couldnt give to me. they werent well made. thats what makes auctions fun. you never know what things will sell for.

i took my dog out to the timber yesterday. i was kinda hunting and kinda just walking around. i seen a few squirrels and some turkey. leaves have fallen so i couldnt walk without announcing to everything in the timber where i was. i like being in the timber, and being around nature. i find peace in that. i cut a couple of hiking sticks out of hickory for mary and i. i know hickory will be strong when it dries. i scraped the bark off and whittle them down some. it reminded me of an old leon redbone song — “my walking stick”. next time we go on a hike i will have a walking stick.

this week is almost history. can’t wait for the week end…

even though it was cool we went camping this past weekend. we met at the boys and girls club to organize the trip. it was decided to go to the northwest corner of the rez at the bottom of the big hills there. it is located on big soldier creek. when potawatomis first moved here, many lived on either big soldier or little soldier creeks.

we set up camp and started supper. some went off to hunt. when they came back they had a squirrel and a turkey. some of the kids went to the trick or treat thing then came back. supper was good. we had chicken and noodles, corn soup, cowboy bread and pumpkin. it was good. i said i go on these hikes and camping just for the food.

the young boys brought a drum out and sang. they sounded good. i was watching them and listening to them and thought they will be our singers up ahead. they can start alot of songs already. someone was making popcorn over the fire, the boys wanted some of that. later the hot dogs came out. some of the boys jumped up for that. while they were cooking hot dogs one 6 year old sang a song by himself, dont know how many verses he just kept singing. that sounded neat. one of the other boys asked him when the song was gonna end. i liked listening to him. others applauded when he stopped.

we got alot of visiting in. it got a little cold so we stood by the fire. it didnt take long for  the warmth of the fire to  take the chill out. the cool didnt bother the kids. they played the whole time. as the evening wore on, campers gradually went to sleep. around midnight, the last ones went to bed. i was worried about being cold but my sleeping bag kept me warm. i had to think of our people in the old days. they didnt have the modern things like us. they had to just live with being cold. they were tough though. i heard coyotes hollering then drifted off to sleep.

i woke up and they had cowboy coffee on. that is the best coffee there is. the ladies started cooking breakfast. we had more people come out for breakfast, they brought more food to cook. we had 10 pounds of bacon, about 6 dozen eggs, a bag of potatoes that were fried, oatmeal and more cowboy bread. one of my younger nephews prayed for breakfast in potawatomi. then we all ate. it was a good breakfast. we visited some more. and stood by the fire again as it was cool in the morning. the sun was behind cloud cover. we didnt go for the hike we planned. we broke camp around noon. it was quite an adventure. nobody actually counted but we estimated at least 30 of us camped. more kids than adults, but at least a dozen older ones. the kids listen to the adults pretty good.  i will go camping again with the group in a minute. it is always fun. a hike is planned next.

i will get out and vote today. i vote in every election. i dont expect much will change. the whole system probably needs changing. the bureaucracy is just a drain on our money and resources. big business and the rich pretty much control our lawmakers. and own them. in spite of how some things are, we still the best country in the world.

since i had to turn the heat on the past few nights i gather that summer is over. the other morning i seen the grass was covered with frost. even had to scrape the ice off the car windows.  i have witnessed the changing of  the seasons a few times. now that i am getting a little older i am more in tune with the seasons. i like fall time, especially the leaves turning color. my aunt cecilia gave me a sugar maple that turns some brilliant oranges and reds.

dont know what the cool weather will do with our camping trip. probably wont change anything. just make it more interesting. we will have a fire going so it shouldnt be too bad. i am all up for camping. i had to go buy me a back pack to carry my gear in. i have a tent, sleeping bag and air mattress. seen my cuz at wal mart and i told her about camping. she spied my air mattress and said you sure arent roughing it are you. i said hell no. i used to sleep on the ground but not anymore. on the other hand most people dont camp at all. even at pow wows, they look for the host hotel/motel. i have camped all over the country. some real out of the way places. will make sure to take my cell phone. need that too.

i noticed some vacancy postings on the tribes website.  i go there now and then to see what is going on. i found the vacancies interesting. they have all these qualifications for some board positions. gotta have mangement experience, experience owning a business etc. i thought yeah they should. then they list the qualifications for the empty tribal council position. and they are 1. must be a tribal member. 2. must be over 21 and 3. cant have a felony in the past 5 years.  You pass that and you are good to go. they extended the deadline a day for the council position. hmmm…i hope it aint cuz they cant find someone that meets the qualifications.

sometimes i like to look at national politics. i wonder  has this country come to the point where someone like palin becomes a spokesperson. shes an airhead but people are turning out in large numbers to hear her tell them what they want to hear. being cute dont make you smart. voters gotta realize its not the republicans or the democrats that will save them. you just cant trust the politicians of either party. they are both equally to blame for the fiscal mess we are in.  voters buy into their rhetoric and think they will have change. nothing changes in politics. the tv ads would have you believe one mudslinger is better than the other. what kind of country would we have if either party had used half of their bailout money to help the poor in this country. or if either sought to make our streets in this country safe. instead of fighting an enemy half a world away. on and on. when you get out to vote  this coming week, flip a coin.

we took another hike this past sunday. 31 people walked 5 1/2 miles. as usual we crossed fields, creeks and climbed hills. we follow deer trails sometimes.  i like how well everyone gets along as a group. we chose a new route this time. we started near the pahmahmies old place and ended up near mazhas place. we stopped for lunch at the language house. seen a deer rub on a tree in the yard there. we crossed some land that i used to hunt back in my younger day. i had some deer jerky i made and shared it with the group. the kids liked it so much i may take some more next time around.  these hikes are so much fun that i cant wait until the next one. this coming weekend we are planning an overnight camping trip. i probably will need a bigger back pack to carry my gear in.  will have to pack a tent and maybe an air mattress. i have gotten soft in my age.  we will hike in and camp. we will cook supper at the camp. food always tastes better over a fire.  we will log some miles the next day.  i enjoy the walks. i need to keep doing that for my health.

i bought some tickets to the ku-ucla basketball game in december. yesterday was the first day the public could buy tickets. i want to see what this years team looks like against some good competition. ucla is a storied program. used to watch them back in the wooden days. k u has always been my favorite team though. i have a ritual of high fiveing the team as they head to the locker room.

the program i work for will have a harvest feast next month. a big eat.  it will be at the bingo hall. we will serve deer meat, buffalo, turtle, ninwezhek, wild onions, dried corn, hominy and dried squash among other things. the corn and crooked necks came from the community gardens. last years feast had 30 volunteers that helped out. they helped cook, serve and wait on people. they also brought food including desserts. we will need more people to help out again this year. it is an opportunity to come together and share a meal. we will post flyers around the rez. everyone is welcome to attend the event.