Grassy Dancer

In my last post I mentioned I had been at the mall to see a movie. It so happens that the mall was also having special artisans and guests as part of the Christmas program. Every weekend there will be a different theme and different artisans.  It seems to be a great idea as I had never seen the mall so busy in all my years of going to it

Even Santa made an appearance.

I loved looking at all the brightly lit Christmas trees from my vantage point on the 2nd floor. Unfortunately my cell phone camera doesn't do justice to the sight.

I promised in my last post to share a short video of a young boy I saw giving a dance performance in the mall. As I watched him I was very impressed and felt proud of him as  he danced in the tradition of the Plains Indians.

I was too far away to get a good shot but this will give you an idea of the regalia of the young boy who is wearing white and turquoise.  You can see it much better in the video below.  The female dancers are wearing jingle dresses. I didn't get a chance to watch them dance as I had an appointment to get make.

I'm not fully sure but I'm fairly sure *wink, that the young boy is dressed as a Grass Dancer and he is dancing in the spirit of the Grass Dance. I am not an expert on the dances so I've taken this short description from a website.

The Grass Dance style is a very old dance rich in history that has become very popular. In the old days, it was the job of the grass dancers to flatten the grass in the arena before a pow wow. The name "grass" does not come from the stomping of grass, but it comes from the old habit of tying braids of sweet grass to the dancer's belts, producing a swaying effect. Today, Grass Dancers resemble a multicolored swaying mass of yarn or fringe on the dance floor. The Grass Dance is a very fluid and bendable style, with the dancers trying to move their fringe in as many places as possible at once. The Grass Dance style was born in the North, but its popularity has spread South, and now this beautiful style is available for everyone (Source: http://www.thinkquest.org/pls/html/think.library)

 For information about the Grass Dancing regalia please click here.

I have embedded a short video of the young boy dancing.  It will give you a better idea of the regalia he is wearing and his footwork.  Pardon the shakiness right at the beginning of the video.  It gets better as it goes on.  I thought I had a second video to upload.  Somehow I seem to have lost it. If you find any problems with this video, please let me know. I may have to upload it again.

This is my submission to Our World Tuesday today.

I hope you enjoyed this short introduction to the Grass Dance and the young boy's performance as much as I did.

Pow-Wow Drums and Cho Cho Fire

In last Sunday's post, I mentioned the Canadian and Australian aboriginal entertainers and artists who participated in this year's annual live show in celebration of Canada's National Aboriginal Day.  One such performer was the legendary Buffy Sainte-Marie,who, at the age of 71, still has more energy and vibrancy than many artists half her age.  Buffy is an internationally known Aboriginal activist, musician, educator and artist. I had the pleasure of meeting her once many years ago at a conference. I was struck by how tiny she is.  She is short but also very petite and much prettier in person.  (Read more about her by clicking on her name in the sentence above).

She has many songs that I love; Piney Wood Hills and Darling Don't Cry, among them.  The one I'm sharing with you today is one of her newer compositions, "Cho Cho Fire".  The drums she is referring to in the song are the pow-wow drums which are played by groups of singers.

Photo Credit:  Tribal Spirit

You can read more about the drum and can also buy one if interested, at the Tribal Spirit website.

Songwriter: BUFFY SAINTE MARIE

Ooo you better wake up
Man it's like you're dead and gone
See you movin around the same ole neighborhood
Same ol thoughts in your head spin around

Oh I know that you're a city boy
But if you got a chance to go - ah - ah
Would you come out to a new world
I promise that I'll take it slow - ah - ah

Aya Aya Are you ready?
Aya Aya Come on now
Aya Aya It's a new world
Aya Aya Cho cho fire
Aya Aya Listen to the drum beat
Aya Aya That's my heartbeat
Aya Aya Have a little fun now
Aya Aya Cho cho fire

Look like you're burnin out to me Babe
No good to nobody no how
Think you need a new experience
Need a little powwow in your soul

See the people get excited
Know the best is yet to come
You can see the people gatherin from miles around
See em running for the drum - ah - ah

Aya Aya Are you ready?
Aya Aya Come on now
Aya Aya It's a new world
Aya ay Cho cho fire
Aya Aya Listen to the drum beat
Aya Aya That's your heartbeat
Aya Aya Have a little fun now
Aya Aya Cho cho fire

I noticed that the female back up singers in this video, Soni Moreno and Jennifer Kresiberg, are well known singers in their own right, from the group named Ulali.  I was fortunate to have see them in Vancouver performing with Pura Fé , the third, and also very talented member of Ulali. But I had first heard Pura Fé of the women's trio by the same name, at a pow-wow in Kahnawake, Quebec, many years ago. It was an a capella group, and it was the first time I'd heard an aboriginal a capella group. Since then, many women's groups have sprung up that perform in a similar fashion.  I've always felt that Pura Fé was  a pioneer of some very unique and wonderful music.

There is a terrific video at this link which will bring you up to date on Buffy's latest recording efforts "Running to the Drum" and her new band.

More of Seton Lake

The other day I featured a few sky photos, taken on the drive from Vancouver to Seton Lake, near Lillooet.  I thought it would be good to post more photos of this spectacular area as my submission to this week's Scenic Sunday Meme. I do hope you enjoy them.

 

 I think these photos will give you a sense of the driving conditions and the mountainous terrain.

 
 You can see that there are some extreme switchbacks in the road.

If you look in the far distance, you can see the blue plastic shelters (around the middle of the photo). Those are Aboriginal fishermen of the St'a'imc (pronounced Statleum) First Nation, who have set up camps to do their annual food fishing for salmon.

Here is a closer view...

 

and here are the fishermen right on the water (below). It can be dangerous as the river is very powerful.

Fishing for salmon may be the most important part of the First Nation's culture in in this area.  The  people used different styles of harvesting the fish including spears, dip netting, and net fishing.  This annual fishery is called "food fishing" and is distinct from fishing as a commercial venture, and distinct also from the sport fishery.  The annual food fishery is protected by the country's law and is a much fought for right of the First Nation's people.  

Much of the salmon harvested in the summer months is preserved for the winter months.  Aboriginal people preserve the salmon through wind drying and also through smoking it. Of course, the people also have the option today of freezing it and canning it. 

Whatever way you eat it, it is delicious. Thank you for stopping by and reading my post for Scenic Sunday. I encourage you to click on the badge below and join in all the fabulous posts from around the world.

Photo credits: my brother

Comfort Foods

This week was a time of comfort foods for mom and I. We were blessed with a gift of moose meat. Today I cooked some up and this is what we had for dinner.

It was so good that mom kept saying "this is so good", and when she finished, she said she couldn't eat another bite. I didn't bother with any starch accompaniment. We simply had baby greens, radishes and sticks of English cucumber. Mom doesn't like salad greens chopped into pieces so that is why the salad greens look as they do. But they are good no matter which way you eat them! I also stir fried some slices of red pepper with mushrooms and stalks of celery. This mixture is what is obscuring the meat somewhat in my photos.

The moose meat has been cut into slices off a slab, pounded and dipped into flour on both sides before frying in hot oil. One must use enough oil so as not to dry out the moose meat which is very lean. Read more about the moose meat here.

Earlier this week, I made pan fried bannock. I've blogged before about oven baked bannock. See here and here. For the pan friend version, you omit the oil/shortening from the recipe. Once you form your rounds or pieces of bannock to be cooked, you heat some oil and fry the bread, turning it over once it has browned. Once cooked on both sides, you lay it on strips of paper towel to blot out the excess grease. Eat. It is especially good with butter and jam.

Here is a picture of what the fried bannock should look like.

Just as I was finishing this blog, mom's daily aide came for the night service. Lo and behold she brought some minced buffalo meat. See a photo of a buffalo here. Wow, we are so blessed.