Category: da rez blog

got back from short road trip last night. i went to ark city near the kansas-oklahoma border on friday. i drove down the turn pike to el dorado. i took hwy 77 south from there. i had to get a room because the tour was saturday at 10. i didnt want to get up early, drive down then turn around and drive back. that would have been a 6 hour drive.

we met at the land rush museum south of where chilocco was. we watched a film to give us a historical background. we traveled in our own cars to the different areas of the tour. i took a picture with a wooden indian at the musuem. the picture on the top right is a valley where the etzanoa did their trading. they traded with tribes as far away as the pueblos.

the bottom left picture is where the chief had his house.  it was on the highest bluff and had a 360 degree view. the picture on the bottom right is called production mounds. for instance if they processed just buffalo at a mound they would bury the refuse and cover it. they would continue using the same mound for this and keep adding to it. this took place from the 1400s to the 1700s. that is why the mounds grew so big in size.

basically all we did was tour where the big settlement used to be. the settlement has been gone a long time.  people have been finding artifacts such as arrow heads, scrapers and pottery in this area since the 1800s. they knew a large indian population have lived here. there are two golf courses built on the land today. the rest is privately owned by the affluent of ark city.

the story of etzanoa is interesting enough that i wanted to go see it. a conquistador named juan de onate came up it back in the year 1601 in his search for the gold of the ‘seven cities of cibola’. the spanish captured the chief. the rest of the village fled. this allowed the spanish to inspect the town. they left soon after because they thought the indians would bring back reinforcements.

they found large circular houses made of cedar posts and tall prairie grass. each house would hold between 8 and 10 people. they counted 2000 houses and estimated 20 thousand lived in the settlement. they said it would take 2 days to walk the entire village.

the settlement was estimated to stretch 5 miles along both sides of the walnut river where it met the arkansas river. today scholars believe the town was actually larger than than and extended further. the bluffs had springs to provide water. there was fertile bottom land to grow corn, beans, squash and pumpkins. they also hunted. this enable them to live in the same land for such a long time.

the indians that lived in etzanoa were the ancestors of the wichita people. it would have been one of the largest cities in north america. perhaps the biggest. it wasnt too many years after the spanish came thru that the wichita tribe numbered around 500.

i want to go back when they are doing a dig.

i went to early voting at our old bingo hall yesterday. i previously sent for an advance ballot. i had that cancelled after i heard that maybe they wouldnt count mail in ballots. i dont trust our government. i didnt want to take any chances. dont know if my vote will make a difference but i still want my vote counted.

there wouldnt have been much of a crowd if i voted in mayetta though. i  just prefer to vote on our rez. i would know people i seen at our old bingo hall. i said hello or nodded to most. i didnt get in much visiting because voting was taking place. i got to keep the pen i used to mark my ballot. thats better than a ‘i voted’ sticker.

i will be glad when this election is over. some people only use politics to separate themselves from others. they can use any excuse to do that. i think for many politics is only an outlet to vent their frustrations. pretty much the way sports is.

i bought a new chiefs jersey. it is an Edwards-Helaire jersey. i got it at a flea market. i seen it the last time i was there. it was selling for $45. i was interested in buying it then. it would cost 3 times that at arrow head.  last game edwards-helaire ran for 161 yards. i knew i had to have his jersey. now we just acquired a former all pro running back in le’von bell. we will be loaded at running back.

the world series has started. i got in a series pool for the first game. i won $20. i ran pools for 20 to 30 years. i rarely won any of them. then i hit this one. i let my money ride. i got into another pool for $20 a spot on the total runs of the whole series. winner walks away with 200. i only watched part of last nights game. it aint much fun when i aint got money on it.

i havent missed an opening K U basketball exhibition game in about 20 years. i probably will this year cuz of the covid. i wont get to buy a new jersey either. i should have a bunch of ku jerseys but i think my sons glommed onto them.

the bed company passed our house on their way to marties today. gps takes delivery people down there all the time. they turned around and came back. it didnt take them long to set up our new bed.  they told us to try it out. we did. i already knew i  liked it. we will sleep on the new bed tonight.

as they were leaving one of the guys asked if he could have a coupla of the habanero peppers in my grow boxes. i said yeah, after the coming freeze they will die anyway. he and the lady who drove picked some. i told them to take as many as they wanted. i have a years supply put away. they also took some anaheims. glad they could use them. i dont like to see any go to waste.

gotta start moving things back into our bedroom.

wabenokwe was home for several board meetings. i havent seen her in eight months. we had good visits with her.  we went to the demo derby on saturday. we sat with her, some of her brothers and some of the grandkids. she had a home cooked breakfast at our house on sunday and later some squirrel soup with wild rice.

we took her to the airport yesterday to catch her flight to her other home in california. there were no lapses in the conversation. after we dropped her off we stopped at a cajun restaurant. we had to wear masks until we were seated. there werent many in the place at mid afternoon. i ate blackened catfish on dirty rice. i also had a cup of gumbo, new potatoes and succatosh with sweet tea.

we were watching the chiefs play while we were eating. we listened to the game on the radio when we were driving home on the turnpike. we got home just as the 4th quarter started. the game was still on the line. we got to see the chiefs win at crunch time.

i got a call this morning. the bed company scheduled delivery of our new bed on thursday. they will set up it up that day sometime between 10 and noon. i cant wait to get moved back in our bedroom.

tomorrow i am going to early voting.   it will be held at our old bingo hall. i have voted since i was 18. maybe i missed an election or two back in my bumming around days. i havent missed any for the past 30 or 40 years. i will be glad when this election is over.  hopefully the worthless ones will get voted out. maybe thats a bit vague. hope the worst ones get voted out then.

i seen they gonna make a cartoon based on the freak brothers. flash back time. i used to read the freak brothers comics back in the day. i still have a collection of those old dope or underground comics. i have about 60 of them. for the hell of it i looked up the value of some. the prices varied from a few bucks each to over 30 or 40 dollah. righteous bucks but i will hold onto my set.

i noticed about 10 games were added to my computer. i know it had to be andrew that did put them on here. since he was little he always thought that what ever misho had was his too. he dont get on here that often though so its no big deal. i didnt delete them.

leaves are starting to fall. i am thinking about making a wire enclosure to hold leaves. it will make leaf mold. i can add that to my grow boxes next spring. the 40 trees i have in the yard can help me grow food. the only cost i will have is a little labor.

the rhode island reds and barred rock chicks i bought this spring are  bigger. they are almost the size of the hybird hens i bought. i am thinking of turning the chicks loose in the chicken house  and yard. i need to mark them. i seen some use zip ties as bands. i have plenty of them. that way i will be able to tell which are reds and which are hybrids. well the color is a giveaway but i want to be sure.

gotta see what will happen this week

we had a long day yesterday. we were gone all day. first we had to go to lawrence for andrews last soccer game. it was held outdoors. most wore face masks. andrew had a good game. he scored 3 goals and just missed two others. no one keeps score but we did. andrews team won.

all week we had planned to go to the demo derby in horton after the soccer game. the game was at 11:30. we had plenty of time when the game was over. we drove south of town to a look out tower on top of a hill. the boys havent been there. i used to go there long ago. we climbed the 3 stories to the top. we could see k u off in the distance. we didnt stay long.

we stopped to get lunch and drove up the back roads to horton. it was a nice drive thru farm land. most of the corn fields have been harvested. there were still some soybeans standing in the fields.

we got to the demo derby around 3:30. it had a start time of 4. we bought a pit pass once we got there. we had time to go see all the cars. i heard there were gonna be a few cars owned and driven by indians. we stopped and visited with them. we got to look at their cars so we would know which ones to cheer for. i seen a coupla friends i used to work with. we visited awhile.

most of the bleachers were already full. some had been there since noon. we brought our lawn chairs. we set them up by a corner of the bleachers. it afforded us a view of the track. it looked like the indian section. lotsa indians sitting in that area. thats probably why we were able to find a space so close to start time.

we filled our own little section of the indian section with our family. joe and family showed up. mary and wabeno met us.  a friend of wabenos showed up with her family. we all sat together. the kids all played together while the adults visited.

once the show got started we all got into it. the kids got off on seeing the cars crashing into each other. well the adults liked the show too. we were on the look out for the indian cars. we cheered them on. during the breaks the kids played football. andrew brought his football. of course misho had to walk to the car to get it so they could play. every one had a good time.

we left early so we wouldnt have to deal with the traffic. we got out with out sitting in a jam. we got home before 10. samuel fell asleep on the way home. he was played out from the long day.

this morning we had breakfast with wabeno. on the way over to pick her up i seen a bald eagle. it was picking at a raccoon carcass on the road by the buffalo pen. it flew off as i approached. after i picked wabeno up we went by there. i seen the eagle sitting in a big cottonwood tree off the road. i drove into the field and wabeno got some pictures. i tried to but didnt get any good ones.

it was a good weekend surrounded by family and friends.

halloween is getting closer. the grand kids are getting their costumes ready. i never did get into that. if i was gonna do one this year i would go as the joker while doing that dance. we dont get many trick or treaters. we too far out in the boon docks. we will take the boys to the drive thru trunk or treat at peoples park. we end up with more candy than we need to be around. not good for this diabetic.

my grow boxes are still producing. i am still picking habanero peppers. i put them in a freezer bag and save them. my garlic bulbs are growing. i could have fresh garlic next growing season. i have a few onions, jalapenos and anaheim peppers growing.  soon a killing frost will zap everything. i think they saying we gonna get our first snow soon.

i had a few turnips that came up. i wanted to try the turnip greens. they suppose to be full of vitamins and minerals. we had some in soup with green beans, onions and leeks that i grew. trying to eat healthy.

i have done more tv binge watching while staying home the past few months. i get suggestions from others, usually my kids, on what shows to watch. or i scan the listings for a movie or series of interest. i dont pay much attention to the suggestions given to me by netflix or amazon. they dont have my interests figured out at all.

i was tryna finish this blog and my internet went out. i didnt wanna sound like a whinny customer but i called the internet people any way. the lady asked if i was on the reservation. i said yeah, she said they had a problem here and were working on it. i sat back and waited. it came on for a while then zapped out again. now its back on.

there are parts of our national government i see as corrupt. not all but some. so i made a coupla donations to a candidate running for office. now i am bombarded with requests for more money. i even get calls asking if i would take training to call voters in key states to convince they to vote. i kinda let that slide. i gotta hope there are more people in this country that have some sense than there are ones that dont.

i still havent gone to topeekie to get more chicken feed. i see that shawnee county is experiencing an increase in covid cases and transmission. i am not like how some describe the ones that stay home. i am not hiding in my basement. i go out but am careful to keep social distancing and i wear a mask.

i see art that is labeled as native art. the eagle feathers always come to a sharp point. maybe i aint been around long enough but i havent ever seen a pointed eagle feather. perhaps that is what is known as artistic license.

gonna head to o dan.

yesterday was indigenous day. i didnt do anything indigenous. nor did i wish any of my native friends a happy indigenous day.

like others, some times my plans change. i planned on going to a coupla events the past coupla week ends. ended up that i didnt go. thats the way it is sometimes. like the old rolling stones tune ‘we cant always get what we want’. i wanna take the boys to the demo derby this week end. hope that dont change. they havent been to one before. i know they will get off on it.

i completed my second week of walking. i am back in the routine of walking again. i want to get in as much walking while the weather is nice. i can hit my treadmill when the weather isnt good.

i am drinking more indian tea now that i am walking again. i finished 3 gallons of it in the past week or two. i have a big glass mug that holds about 20 ounces. i drink several of them. i also drink water in the glass. i am trying to keep my liquid intake up. we take a water bottle with us on our walks too.

i started reloading songs off my cds back into my computer. i am rebuilding my play lists. they got zapped out. i missed my music when i worked outside or driving. i havent been on any long trips. i usually can put on one play list and listen to it all day. i could play a new one everyday. it will take me some time to get all my lists back. i havent been working at it.

the chicken feed is running low. i will have to go to the feed store and pick some up. i have two metal trash cans that i put it in. that keeps critters out of the feed. mice cant chew thru it. the cans are under the porch over hang on my tool shed. that keeps the cans dry. i dont have any problem with moisture in the cans.

they are having hearings on the nomination of a supreme court justice. i usually keep up on news. i dont like watching this though. there is little doubt how this will turn out. the democrats are trying to ask the republicans to follow what they said when an opening occurred during obama’s second term. the republicans are having none of it. the justice will be approved no matter what.

that is exactly how our government works. they will do what ever they want. whether it helps or hurts the american people has no bearing on the outcome. politicians do what they want. most politicians are there just to help themselves some way whether politically or economically.

the politicians say there is no way a stimulus will happen before the election. they can push a justice nomination thru though. they wont help the average american that needs it but can give money to the rich.

i will have my chance to vote next week. we are having early voting at the old bingo hall. i had my request for a mail in ballot cancelled. i wanted to make sure my vote gets in.

the furniture place called. we will be getting our new bed in 11 days. wish it was sooner but at least we know when it will be here. the bed is a gift from our daughter and son. i havent found a head board for it yet. no hurry. i wont rush into buying the first one i see.

i have been looking for a few dressers for the boys’ room. i want solid wood ones, not the particle board ones covered with a fake veneer. most modern furniture aint solid wood.  i found one solid oak dresser already. i want the dressers to maintain their value. i have gone to garage sales and flea markets looking for dressers. i also check out auctions. i am in no hurry here either. i will take time to find ones i like.

today we are heading to lawrence. we will watch andrew play flag football. he has three games. we wont go to every game.  we will drop samuel off so they will be home for school this week. most people at these games wear face masks and it is outdoors. we take our pow wow chairs to sit on.

before we head out, the chiefs are playing today. i will watch as much as i can. then listen to the rest on the radio as we drive to lawrence. i still havent found my mahomes jersey. i  cant wear my chiefs gear with the game on. the jersey is packed away until we move back to our bedroom. i can wear it again after we unpack.

this coming week end we are taking the boys to a demolition derby. it is held up the road. one of the drivers told me there might be 4 or 5 indians driving in this event. i probably know most of them. i might get us a pit pass. it will cost 10 bucks more for that pass. that will enable us to walk around and look at the cars. that way the boys can see the indians that will be driving them.

tomorrow is columbo day. most tribes have made it a second native american day to take off. most indian offices will be closed. a real protest would be to say we are going to work anyway. we wont observe the day, instead we will work to help our people.

the national election is getting closer. this election is like many of our tribal elections we have had. it is a question of voting for who will do the least harm. there will still be many who vote for the one who will cause the most harm. there will be some that say their vote wont count.  many times that helps elect people who shouldnt be in there.

the out door antenna of mine just gave out. it stopped getting reception so i scanned channels. it says no channels added. it says move antenna to get different reception or check connection. i did both and still nothing. i will continue trying to fix it. i need that for local channels.

i gotta watch this chiefs game before i hit the road

seen a flock of geese flying over this morning. they were heading south. that could only mean one thing. there will be some more that will fly east, some west and some north. man has disrupted their natural habitats. i think they dont follow their usual migratory patterns any more. many stay here on the state reservoirs.

i took a picture of one of our buffalo. usually they are too far away to get detail. once i asked if i could go into the area where the buffalo are fenced off from. i wanted to gather up manure to add to my compost pile. i was kinda given a run around. i let it go. it just lies there and rots away. it is of no use to anyone but could be beneficial in producing food.  sovereignty means we can say we dont want it but we dont want you to have it either.

i watched the vice presidential debates last night. many thought the fly was the main point of interest. i thought it was pence’s red eye. does he have covid too?  the white house is the latest hot spot. if the most powerful government in the world cant protect themselves, how do we expect them to protect us?

i was talking to a classmate of mine from 50 years ago. we talked about a little of everything. we touched on politics. i told him i didnt see much difference between the two parties. they are just puppets for the rich who really run this country. like the corona stimulus bill. the top 1% got billions. people like us got 1200 bucks. my classmate agreed. we both thought there were too many crooks in our government who only care for themselves.

we havent heard from the furniture place that we bought our bed from. they did say 4 to 6 weeks but maybe sooner. i was hoping sooner. i want to finish moving into my bedroom. i bought another outdoor antenna for it. i want to be able to watch local news in bed before i go to sleep. i moved the one we had to our living room when we cut cable.

my worm farm is still going. i feed it regularly. i see plenty of worms in there. they will reproduce and i will have more worms. i have a stackable bin. i have 5 more bins to add. i will use the worm castings in my grow beds next growing season.

we walked on the paved road again last evening. that was the second walk this week. last week we had 6 miles. we should equal or better that this week. the main thing is to keep walking. i am trying to better my health. at my age it is hard to lose weight. i keep trying. i know walking is good for me.

they having a junk fest in valley falls this weekend. they abiding by health guide lines.they have 70 vendors  with a little of everything. food trucks even.  i might go check it out.  i stay home all week. need to get off rez a while. i will wear a mask.

recently i received a shipment of porcupine hair. it was about 3/4s of a pound of hair. i havent begun to sort it yet.  i have plenty of other hair to sort. i probably will get back to doing that monotonous chore again. once i get into the routine i can sort hair for hours a day, all week long.

i am sending a check to the trapper that sent me the hair. i asked him if he is willing to pluck the quills off the hides. usually the trappers pull the porcupine hair and thats it. i told him i am interested in buying all the quills off bout 4 or 5 porcupines. that is enough to get started. i want to try doing some quill work. i dont know if i got any skill at that until i actually try.

i will ask other trappers for quills too. i have been asked in the past if i wanted any. now i will see if i can get quills. even if i dont have it down as an art i could sell the quills at a future stand. i will dye them when i dye the deer tails i use for roaches. i will get two uses out of the dye.

i havent been working on my roaches since pow wow season didnt happen this year. it will be back. usually i work on roaches in the fall and winter. that is kinda my down time. i dont have gardening, mowing, spring cleaning etc.

i decided to give away the cuban cigar i scored. i will give it to my son. the past few years i have only smoked pipe at ceremonies. i had to smoke several times for people during this covid crisis.  i still have to cough from that for several weeks after i smoke. it irritates my lungs. thats why i am not gonna smoke the cubano.

i needed chick starter feed. i went after some yesterday. while i was in town i ordered some buffalo wings. we wanted them before the chiefs game. after we ate, we went for our two mile walk. we got back in time for the kick off. just before the game started, i could hear them doing the tomahawk chop. thats stupid. we were glad the chiefs won.

we are gonna clean a few chickens this week. i usually make a fire to heat the water. some one gave me a big pot. it is big enough to dip the chickens into. then we pluck the feathers off. mary and i have that process down. we can clean several chickens in no time. i  have been fattening these hybird chickens up for a coupla months. they arent laying many eggs. they will make good soup though.

cant wait til next laker game.

we had a sleepover with some of the grand kids last night. i welcome any time i can spend with them. we inflated the air mattress and they slept in the living room. it was fun. kids are constantly asking questions. that is how they learn.  we try to be patient and answer.

i mowed the yard today. the grass was higher than i wanted it to be. it wasnt bad but i want the yard to look nice over the winter.   it only took bout an hour. i dont mind mowing.  my head phones had a low battery so i couldnt jam out while mowing. i will drain the gas out of the mower when i shed it for the year.

i fixed up a new compost pile. i had a few bags of grass clippings and leaves. i layered them into a new pile. most of the compost pile i had last year was broken down. i threw all of that into the layers of leaves and grass clippings. it will help break it down. i will continue to add egg shells, coffee grounds and table scraps. i will add all of this and my worm castings to my grow boxes next year..

after slacking a few weeks on my walking i am back at it. i walked 3 times last week for a total of 6 miles. now i am back in a routine.  i even done a few sets on the weight machine. once i get started i can keep it up.  when the weather turns i have my tread mill and weight machine to exercise with.

i did get my flu shot on friday. it was simple. i drove up and was handed some forms and a clipboard. i had  wear a facemask. all the workers were. i filled out the forms and pulled forward. i handed them the forms and i got my shot. i asked if i would get a sponge bob band aid and a sucker. i was only kidding. after my shot they put a band aid on me and handed me a sucker and some stickers.

andrew is playing flag football. he got me out in the yard twice this week end to throw the ball to him. i caught a throw of his one handed. he said ‘what’. he didnt think  ol misho had some skills. i even punted him the ball a few times. he got all of us at different times to practice with him. he wants to play.

if i make a mistake i correct it. i said tribe wasnt publishing covid numbers like they were. i was informed there is a place on the tribes website that lists numbers. i didnt see it. so i stand corrected. at first they were sending out news releases. not now.

tomorrow i am going to get new glasses. i lost my last pair. i am not forgetful so i didnt space them out. i am not obsessive about it but i have a place for everything. i dont understand where they could be. i thought by now they would have shown up. they didnt. now i will get a new pair. i have to wear a face mask and call the place. they come out to get me. then i pick the glasses i want.  this indian will get off the rez tomorrow.