Monday, July 30, 2007

Intertribal Pow Wow, Griffith Park Los Angeles








Pow Wow Sunday. Hot, as usual. We arrive a bit early to peruse the vendors. I buy abalone shell pieces, polished and with holes in them to string together. And turquiose heche beads. Green and blue parrot feathers. I feel like I'm in some ancient mesoamerican mercado...buying the same stuff they would. Then we have to eat Navajo tacos - fry bread with beans, meat and lettuce piled on top. Put some hot sauce on and eat with a ice-cold can of Coke. Ummmm....so good. Then you get that sick feeling afterwards, from all the grease. The dances are a social event, a prayer, an affirmation of identity in a consumer world. The drumming and singing are unearthly and can sweep you away. The outfits are pure country psychedelia...rich mixtures of old & new, day-glo and ancient beadwork. I love pow wow Sunday.

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