Category: da rez blog

I have been busy the past two days cutting up squash. most of them are on screens drying now. I fixed about a dozen drying screens I reuse every year.  I have a few squash  to cut up today. temps will be in the mid 70s the rest of the week. rain is expected Saturday but these will be dry by then.

usually I help mary but she isn’t retired like I am. together we have them done in no time. doing it by myself is taking a while. all that is needed (besides the squash) is a sharp knife. and some music. I have to be careful of the knife. I got a coupla nicks that broke the skin. good thing Andrew didn’t use all the band aids.

every time I do something like dry corn or squash I cant help but think of my mother. she taught me how to do these things.  and a lot of other things as well. after I moved to my present home she would come over and help me dry corn or squash. our mothers are always with us. even when they aint.

I ate at a Chinese place last night. one of the things they had in the buffet was frog legs. that reminds me of hunting them when I was young. it wasn’t spring until I had wild onions, mushrooms and frog legs. now there aren’t very many to hunt. I would walk to every pond I knew that had bull frogs.

I was on my way to visit my aunt Zelda. she is in hospice care. her 93rd birthday is coming up. she was asleep and I didn’t want to wake her up. I will go back and visit her again.

I put my name in for aarp’s diabetes cooking class. I took that class a few years ago. we cooked buffalo shank I think. it was good. mary has been to the class twice so she cant take it. she will be my guest for the meal.

speaking of cooking I have to put the pork chops on today. I got a green chile recipe off the internet. it is slow cooked all day in the crock pot. I will put it on then finish cutting up the last squash.

got a call last week from the amish country store.  they had the  10 crooked neck squash I asked them to save for me. they were on the loading dock with my name on the cart. mine didn’t make it, that’s why I called the amish store. I bought some from them last year coming back from maine.

we made it a nice Saturday drive to go pick them up. instead of going up hwy 75 then straight across on hwy 36 we took the paved county roads thru corn and soybean fields. when we travel we try to take different routes. we see more that way.

they are good size squash. I weighed a smaller one and it was 12 pounds. two others weighed 19 and 20 pounds. all of them together probably weigh over 150 pounds.  i wanted a big supply of them. I gotta have my dried corn and squash.

I will dry them this week. everything else will have to stop til I get my squash dried. I will cut them up and spread them on the screens i have. temps will be in the mid 70s all this week.

Andrew liked seeing the horse and buggies coming to town.  I knew he would. we seen at least a dozen of them. Andrew asked if he could ride one. I said I doubt it. you never know though. the people in that little town are real nice.

we stocked up on a few things-egg noodles, rolled oats, apples, etc.  we went next door to the bakery. i have to have fresh baked bread whenever I can get it. I imagine we will head back over there sometime before winter sets in.

we got there about mid day so we ate at a downtown diner. it was packed. people looking for antiques filled the town.  the food was good and worth the wait. it was a good day trip.

I finished reading the book I ordered online. it was about how three teenagers basically got away with killing 3 indians back in the early 70s. it was during early aim days. the writer didn’t cut them any slack. it was said indians used ‘witchcraft’ to get even with the boys. the book didn’t go into that much. I read the book in a few days.

now I have to sharpen the knives and get to cutting squash…..

I dug these sweet potatoes up from one of my grow boxes. this is almost 10 pounds. I have two more boxes of them growing. I will leave them until I have eaten these ones. I put them in the crockpot with applesauce, brown sugar, butter and a dash of cinnamon. they taste great.

today I am heading over to amish country in missourah. I got a call from their store. I told them I wanted 10 crooked neck squash. they said they had them waiting for me. I will dry them for use this year.

while at the store we will get a couple of bags of rolled oats. they are pure oats. I am eating them for breakfast now. I will also stock up on some egg noodles. I still have some chickens in the freezer for making soup stock. that’s why I need the egg noodles.

I will have a two hour drive over there. good news is I am now getting 29 and a half miles a gallon of gas. I checked that on my last trip down to Tulsa. I was happy with that. the old rav4 is still going. it wont make it to al bundy miles though.

I am taking Andrew with me. I told him about the amish going to town in horse and buggy. he wants to see that. one of my cousins asked about his younger brother Samuel. she said we are always with Andrew and wondered about him. I said we didn’t take him on long road trips because he is still being potty trained. when he says I have to go, he means right now.

lately the boys have been jamming out to pow wow music. they put on the pheasant feather bustle I made and dance around the living room. I get a kick out of seeing them dance. they like dancing.

at our pow wow a few weeks ago someone had a drone buzzing above the dancers. first coupla times it mighta been cute. after awhile it got to be a bother watching it fly around. it distracted from the dancers. it finally crashed into a pole. hate to be a heretic but I kinda smiled when that happened. watch the show don’t be the show…

this is a picture of my son joe playing in the golf tournament for the boys and girls club yesterday. he was on a team with my wife, my niece and his coworker.  mary took the picture. they didn’t say how they did so I assume they didn’t win.

I never took the game up. I wouldn’t know what club to use. I am like my uncle bud. he said they hit the ball way the hell over there, then run over there and do the same thing. maybe he had a better grasp of the game than I. I doubt I ever pick the game up. might be too late for me to learn.

I wanted to use a picture of my daughter hattie. I would run into copyright issues or have to credit where I got the photo. she is on the front cover of the latest tribal business journal. she is part of the all female Native American Financial Officers Association board of directors. she is the treasurer of that group based out of Washington d.c. I am proud that she was elected to the national position. I have no doubts that girl will go far in life. she is doing it on her own merit.

yesterday I went for my flu shot. seems I always end up with a cold. I know that has nothing to do with the shot. colds and flus are separate things. I took the shot as a precaution. I don’t like being sick.

I received an email from a trapper I have bought porcupine hair from. he asked if I am still buying hair. he always had real good hair. probably the best supply of it I had. I want to say no but would hate to pass on the stuff he is selling. I had another guy asked if I wanted two ounces of hair. I passed on that. I have enough hair to make over a hundred and fifty roaches. that will take a few years. maybe I will never finish them.

I was amused the other day by our president. he was going on bout how his IQ is higher than everyone else. I wonder why he says so many dumb things if he has such a high IQ.

I finished my sema the other day. now I am just waiting for it to dry. looks like I will have enough for the coming year.

gotta finish my latest roach. its almost done.

 

this is a picture wabeno took when we were in Tulsa. we got on the elevator and she said look up. we did and she took this. I thought it was kinda funny because I wouldn’t think to take one like this.. normally I only use pictures I take.

the weather guy said it was gonna be near frost last night. some places would get frost. that scared me enough that I picked the rest of my sema. I didn’t want the cold to ruin the leaves. it is late in the growing season anyway.  it was kinda cold as I picked the leaves. I needed to warm up after picking  each row. I ended up with a sink full.

I am lucky I got that much. the heat zapped my young plants twice. good thing I kept reseeding and transplanting. it paid off, I did get a crop. I appreciate whatever I end up with. me and my family depend on it a lot.

today I will pick all of my turnips, beets, peppers and sweet potatoes. most of these are my second crop from my grow boxes. i will toss the trimmings into my compost pile. it is time to get the boxes emptied out. I probably will build a few more boxes before next growing season. I am sold on grow boxes now. actually I have been. I keep adding more.

a guy i have bought wood from called me yesterday asking if I needed any. I missed his call cause I was working. I will call him back and tell him probably not this year. I will take my chances with the tribe. I was buying some because I would only get half a load or all green wood. sometimes I would get wood that burned fast and left no coals. I want my fire to burn all night, especially when it is cold. like below zero.

a young guy that brought me some last year said shouldn’t have to buy any. I agreed. well especially now that I am living on a fixed income, I cant afford to buy it.  so I will hope I get enough. I am too old to go out and cut it myself. I could but my arthritis would make me pay for it.

I started tying the outer deer trim on my latest roach yesterday. so much for a day off. didn’t finish it because I got busy doing other things. it wont take long now. I will start another one soon as this one is done. I will keep churning them out this winter.

gotta go get my flu shot then start working………

today is indigenous day. not Columbus day. nor is it to be confused with native American day held a coupla weeks ago. I don’t know how to celebrate or not celebrate the occasion. so I will just kick back today. been busy at our fall dance for the past 4 days. I can use a day off.

I put in a request to have my garden plowed this fall. I will move my garden to new ground since they are plowing. then they will disc the plowed area. I will let my old garden spot lay fallow this next year.

when I first moved into this house 30 some years ago, I turned over a garden area with a shovel. that’s how much I wanted a garden. I was willing to put the work into it. I had real good luck with new ground. I got about a gallon of corn per row.

I found an arrow head in that first garden. I also found a piece of pipe stone that had been worked and a small piece of clay. the clay was smooth on one side and had straw in the middle. some indians(or were they indigenous) lived here long before I did. my garden will be moved back to this area. maybe some thing else will turn up.

I kinda feel some pride in helping get the tractor and all its attachments. I had to go up against some that didn’t want to do their job and then some that tried to use ”the rules” not to get it. finally got it worked out to spend the grant money to get the equipment. it didn’t cost the tribe a penny. now they will use that tractor to plow my garden. I really don’t understand why some wont try to make things better for our people.

I took some paw paws to our dance. people ate them. a few younger ones didn’t know what they were. one guy remarked that he hadn’t seen one for a long time. kinda glad I took some over there.

I cant wait til the leaves fall so I can go hunting. I like walking around out in the timber. maybe I will go pick up some indian dice counters while I am out there. I know where to find a few of the trees that have them on. gonna need them for the indian dice sets I am gonna make.

will enjoy this day and every day…………..

we had a house full of grand kids the other night. I liked that. we had both the boys and girls.  we took them to fall dance.  they were good. I remember them old folks saying you teach your kids at home.

I didn’t finish my green roach yet. probably wont get to it til  the dance is over. I developed a rhythm doing roaches.

I can work on them almost everyday in some way. sorting the hair takes the most time. it is also the most monotonous. good thing I can listen to music or watch t.v. I have so much hair that I don’t think I will buy anymore this year. I probably will take my buying hair page off.

we have been getting some rain. I still have a few things growing. I think most of them are ready to pick. I will clear out my grow boxes after the dance is over. my peppers turned red. I am hoping my sweet potatoes did good. I planted them in several boxes after other crops were done. I will have another picking of sema after this rain.

the leaves haven’t started to fall yet. nor have they started turning colors. I am surprised our grass is still green too. I will have to mow at least one more time.  it is fall but it still acts like summer. fall weather will come though. I want to go hunting. I don’t hunt that much anymore. it is mainly to get out in the timber. I like the peacefulness of being there.

I have an app on my phone that tells me about any withdrawals from my account. it also tells me my balance. it sent me a text saying my balance is low. I knew that. my old folks check coming in a few days. I am trying to save for my Hawaii trip. I will have been in all 50 states after I go there. it wasn’t a bucket list item of mine but did become one after seeing so many states.

still have a coupla more days of fall dance…

 

I put together an outfit for Andrew a coupla years ago. I made white buckskin leggings, an azyan or breech cloth and an otter hide hat for him. he had a ribbon shirt I bought for him and a yarn belt. we had a beaded black vest made by marys great aunt. I thought he looked good.

it was pow wow time but the kid wouldn’t put it on. I wont force him to dance. dance is supposed to be fun. I have seen some dancers with a look like I am only out here because I have to be. I don’t want my grandson to have that look.

at our last pow wow he was trying to put something together so he could dance. I had a bustle I made out of pheasant feathers that he played with. it was kinda rugged from him dancing around with it. I told him not to wear that. he out grew the rest of what we had for him. he was ready to dance but had no outfit. he asked me if I would make him one. I said yeah. naturally.

he asked if I would make him a roach. I said yeah. his dad got some eagle feathers from the fish and game repository. I probably will make him a bustle with those. I can made some new leggings. I really indulge the kid but he wants to dance. he dances at at our ceremonies. now he wants to pow wow dance. he did get out in the arena on some inter-tribals.

I have been working on a green roach. its not quite done yet. I just finished tying the porcupine hair on it today. I only have the outer deer tail trim left. I had a few things to take care of. I am the emergency baby sitter since I am retired. I had to watch the grand daughters a coupla days. I liked that. I love all my grand kids. I make time for them. the roach had to wait.

I ordered a book my daughter told me about. it is about indians. well the killing of some indians and its aftermath. the book has shipped and I should have it soon. wont take long for me to read it.

I will be busy the next four days. we are having our fall dance….

 

 

mary and I took Andrew with us to Tulsa this past weekend. we went there to visit wabenokwe, my daughter. I have only seen her a few times in the past year because of her work. she said to bring Andrew. I figured it would be an adventure with him along.

he packed a back pack for the over night trip. we stopped at a rest stop to stretch out. he pulled out a nerf football that he wanted to play catch with. we did. he also had a juice box and snacks. I thought the kid was prepared. he even had his pokemon cards.

there is a place called safari adventures near the state line. I have passed it several times. I always tell mary we should stop there. Andrew heard us talking about it. he started asking if we could stop. we had some time to fill before picking up wabeno at the Tulsa airport so we indulged the kid. he had fun looking at all the animals. in this picture he is 5 feet away from the grizzly bear. he fed some of the animals. he liked that.

we stayed with wabeno at the river spirit casino. that took some real arm twisting to get mary and I to stay at a casino. our room had a good view of the Arkansas river. I wanted to see the slots. good thing. I came home with more money than I left with.

we had a good visit. we ate supper and breakfast together. after breakfast we went for a walk along the river. I walked a mile or so. my knee didn’t bother me much. after our walk we headed home. I had some pain in my knee so I took a pain pill. that made the over 4 hour drive better.

I got an email this morning from K U’s ticket department. I ordered tickets for the men’s opening basketball exhibition game. I don’t know how many years I have gone to the first game of the season. it will be a blow out so I can go down to the tunnel to wait for the players to come by. then I high five as many as I can. that is my k u basketball season ritual.

I have to finish my green roach. we have our fall dance coming up this week. I should have it finished before the dance. gotta get busy.

I bought a t shirt at our pow wow that has the above logo on it. hope that because it says every child matters it don’t cause a back lash from some racist. I  am one of those that survived indian boarding school days. we didn’t call them residential schools though, that makes them sound nice. this shirt is meant to be worn on September 30th as part of an awareness about boarding I mean residential schools across Canada eh.

I have an entire chapter about boarding school in my book. a couple of people read that chapter. one said she was half way through reading it when she realized it was a first person account about boarding school. oh ennit. most of the ones that talk bout those days haven’t been there. this indian was.

I will wear this shirt today in solidarity with my bros and sisters that survived indian boarding schools. and the ones that didn’t.  I have run across a few I went to school with. I met some back in the aim days. a few got radical like me. I met some in bars. some became alcoholic and/or drug abusers. again like me. many like me turned to native spirituality. I met a few in prison. I was working in there, they were doing time. the way we were treated in boarding school had a lasting effect on us.  I am glad we made it in spite of boarding school.

my site has undergone some change. new look, same me. my blog is easier to read on cell phones.  I am making roaches since I retired. I want to show case them. that was the purpose of this website originally. I only blogged to keep the site updated.  a pay pal button was added to pay for a roach. I will keep adding roaches as i make them.

I love my website. I will keep it going. at one time my site was on page one of most search engines. don’t know how but it dropped off since then. hopefully I will get it ranked higher. many of the pictures on the image page of search engines show my roaches. that’s a plus I guess.

when we were giving our south Dakota guests a tour I stopped to show them what indian tea looked like. I seen that it has a second growth after the hay has been cut. I picked a bag full to last me thru winter. I picked about two pounds of tea. that should last me. I drink it almost every day.

I am heading to Tulsa today to see my daughter wabenokwe. I will miss one of our ceremonies tomorrow because of that. I have only seen my daughter a few times in the past year because she works away from home. I love my kids. I have to see them whenever I can. I will have a five hour drive down there and pick wabenokwe up at the airport. time to hit the road.