Native American Day: Some Ideas to Celebrate

by Jamie Rhein on

The 4th Friday of September is Native American Day. This year September 28 is a day to honor the first Americans of the United States. Here are some suggestions for how to commemorate the occassion. Stay tuned for more. I keep getting ideas, but this will get you started.

Read Catherine’s post “Native Alaskan Languages Not Endangered” for an interesting read about how languages are being preserved where she lives. There is a similar traditions of preserve languages by Native Americans in the Southwest. Here is a Web site dedicated to preserving Native American languages and culture.

Attend the San Geronimo Day at Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico. It’s on September 30, just a couple days after the official Native American Day, but Taos Pueblo is worth a visit anytime. There are festivals throughout the year at one of New Mexico’s 18 pueblos. Visitors are often welcome.

Visit the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. There are three locations. The Heard Downtown has an on-going exhibit about Native Americans in the Southwest. The Heard North has an exhibit on textiles and Heard West has an exhibit on Native American art and culture in Arizona. October 12-14, there is a film festival with films about and by Native Americans. By the way, for two wonderful films in this genre, check out Pow Wow Highway and Smoke Signals. For Native American Day, you could watch those.

For an alternative outing, plan to visit a Pow Wow where Native Americans from across the U.S. gather for dancing, celebration and competitions. The link has an map with the various locations. The photo by rromin1 on stock.xchange is from a Choctaw Pow Wow.

Microlight Trip to Acoma Pueblo

by Jamie Rhein on

Now, here’s one way to get to Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. This You Tube video of Damien Beresford and Jeff Gilkey’s trip in their microlights is more of the landscape on the way there and back. I don’t think they actually stopped at Acoma. The effect of the shots of Damien’s microlight against the New Mexico scenery is surrealistic. Damien’s commentary along the way is laced with humor and landmark details. He has also included music to create a mood. He said it’s the longest ride he’s taken so far. This video makes me want to try a microlight flight one of these days.

Festival of the Great Unknowns

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s a music festival to add to your list of things to do immediately, as in tomorrow. Or, if you can’t swing that, keep it in mind for next year. It sort of fits between the Gadling’s unusual festivals of the World or the Massively Huge Summer Music Fest Round-up. I just heard about it myself, and if it weren’t for the Midwest, Oklahoma and Texas being so darned big, I’d hop in my car and head there myself.

If you’re in New Mexico and head to Albuquerque, I can guarantee you a great time at the Festival of the Great Unknowns. First, Deryle Perryman, one of the guys who is putting it on, is a true traveling spirit who inspires others to reach their own lofty goals-both figuratively and literally.

About 15 years ago, he and his wife Chris cashed in everything they had and hocked themselves to the hilt to start the Cornstalk Institute. Basically, it’s an alternative education center that celebrates the richness of the heritage of New Mexico, particularly the South Valley where it is located. It’s situated next to an arroyo that’s fed by the Rio Grande River and a place worth stopping by if you’re ever in town. The institute is not a classroom-centered place but one that incorporates outdoor adventure and traditional Native American-style gardening and story-telling. A high ropes course edges the apple orchard and an horno, a mud oven for baking and a teepee add to the ambiance. There is always something interesting going on, and I’m always delighted to hear what new thing Deryle is up to. Tomorrow is a case in point. Darn, I wish I could be there.

All day from 11 A.M. to midnight, the focus is musical folks who ought to be more famous. Yep, that sounds like Deryle. Here’s the line-up. I’ve linked the Web sites I could find, so, if you can’t catch them tomorrow, you’ll know where to find them in your own travels.

The musicians are from across the United States: Jeffrey Richards & the Bright Carvers, Cole Mitchell, the Ditch Dawgs and Daddy Long Loin; Greyhound Soul of Tucson, Arizona; Ken Valdez of Santa Fe; Rick Fowler of Red River; Jim Almand of Madrid; Emory Joseph of New York City; Karen Gruber and David Walton of Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Scott Chard of Edmond, Oklahoma; and Los Amigos del Valle of Valle de Sur in New Mexico.

Besides the music there will be food booths. If there are Navajo tacos, I’d order one. Basically, it’s a piece fry bread with taco fixin’s piled on top. The photo, as if you can’t tell, is a Navajo taco. Once you cross the New Mexico border, keep your eyes open. If you see a sign that says, “Navajo tacos,” pull over.

The festival is a spin-off of a documentary on Eddie Hinton that Deryle created, along with neighbor Moisés Gonzalez. The documentary, Dangerous Highway, highlights the life and work of Hinton, another unknown great who played with Elvis, Otis Redding and others. Deryle and Moisés decided that Hinton needs to be known and currently their idea is happening since the documentary is now on the film festival circuit and receiving positive feedback. (Here’s a post on the blog, Alabama Ass Whuppin’ that gives a rundown of the film. The photo is of Deryle and Moisés from the blog.)

The festival is a way to combine Derlye’s passion for music, Cornstalk and fun. If you happen to go, you could win Maybelline, a 1959 Pontiac Catalina, and a Stratocaster guitar signed by Eric Clapton and Robert Cray.

The festival pass is $30 for one person or $25 for two. You can also get tickets at Natural Sound or Bookworks or email cornstalkinstitute@yahoo.com.

Valentine’s Idea: Visit Valentine

by Willy Volk on

Believe it or not, there are actually a number of cities named Valentine. For example:

  • Valentine, Nebraska (“America’s Heart City”) is home to the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. According to the website, the Heart City plans to host a Valentine’s Day event, although — like shy suitors — they haven’t expressed their feelings about it yet. In 2005, the town hosted a chili cook-off.
  • Right off Purple Heart Trail, there’s a Valentine, Arizona. Generally speaking, though, unless you’re a bit of an adventurer, I doubt this is where you’ll be spending your special day.
  • Only a few hundred people live in the west Texas town of Valentine.
  • There’s a Valentine Village in New Mexico.
  • Upper Austria seems to dislike the fact that it has a small village called Valentine.
  • France boasts Saint-Valentin — “The Lovers Village” — which also has a Garden of Lovers. Not surprisingly, thousands of couples marry in this village of 258 permanent residents each year.

It’s amazing to me that so few of these Valentines have taken advantage of the rather obvious brand management they could so easily monopolize.