1 LEARNED TO DANCE
My life style and personality has
changed since attending Chemawa. At
the beginning of the year I used to smoke
dope alot. It seemed everyday I was
“ stoned out of it’’ and I finally realized
HOW MUCH IT SLOWED ME DOWN
AND MADE MY SENSES SEEM VERY
DULL AND LIFELESS.
After awhile I cut down on pot and
turned to drinking so I could become
“ one of the crowd.’’ Every weekend my
friends and I would manage to score a
fifth or a couple of cases. I finally got in
so much trouble I was put on final
probation and came very close to getting
kicked out.
So I decided I better settle down.
I quit drinking and cut way down on
smoking. My life now has seems to have
gotton so much better and I’m glad.
Learning how to dance and sing
Indian is a way of life rather than a skill
that is to be taught. For me, living this
way gives me an outlook on two lives,
the Indian way and the way of the White
Man. I try to make the Indian way
primary and all else secondary.
This way I don’t stray too far from
what I really am.
I am a Winnebago Indian. We orig
inated in Wisconsin, but our main
reservation is in Nebraska. Our tribe is
very traditional and because of this I
learned many of our old ways.
I learned dancing from my older
brother and some moves from Grandpa.
Grandpa is responsible for my singing.
I can remember him singing to me when
I was young and never understood what
was happening. Eventually I caught on
and began to progress year by year.
For a total of 11 years I practiced off
and on. It is not something you learn
overnight. As a fact, I never really
danced for the first 5 or 6 years - I just
learned steps and about 15 songs.
My first outfit came when I was 12.
At first, I danced around home and other
places not too far away, eventually I
made my way out West to the big
Pow-Wows. There I was educated more
in a summer of 25 pow-wows than I
learned in 5 years at home.
That brings me to the present. My
plans are to continue dancing and singing
and eventually teaching my little brother.
I also hompe to see you at some pow
wows this summer!
Roger Little George
SPIRIT’S JOURNEY
WHEN IN DENVER, VISIT
Western Trading Post is a reliable,
established business, having been
started by Charles and Kay Eberhart
over 28 years ago. N pw , Kay along with
their son, Ronald, work to provide quality
craft supplies at the best possible prices
and a market for crafts of both local and
distant Indians. 50% of the employees
are all or part Indian.
The store provides the convenience of
a catalog for mail-order customers and
the availability of merchandise for those
in the area including an estimated 8000
Indians in the Denver Metropolitan area.
32 Broadway is a Happy meeting place
for friends. Notices of meetings, pow
wows, health services, etc. are always
posted.
Please let us hear from you and we
look forward to your visit when in
Denver.
Journey me through time upon a white
spirit horse from the other world.
I come to seek the white medicine,
preserved in time. A dearth...
among a people I was born among.
Signs and visions foretold my fate and
destiny, for my home lies beyond time
itself.
Alpha my beginning, Omega my ending,
I will bloom like a flower and pass unto
the winds of eternity.
Let fantasy be my reality and miracles
behold my heart in beauty.
I stand before the sun upon a red earth
hill,
I sing the songs of the earth, for she is my
mother.
A voice from the four winds whispered,
“ Seek out the song.
Which is yours and yours alone...
Listen deeply to the gentle songs of a
waterfall...
Wear the spotted plume in your hair.
Sing the sacred song of your beginning...
Come forth pure.
Let this be a vision and a guide for your
spirit’s journey to the end... ’ ’
I have come before the Red sun in white
buckskin fringes, I have peace in my
heart and many legends to be told.
I am at peace,
forever will the heart of the earth beat on.
Emmy Bitt