Philothea
Life in the JVC

Metis Pow-wow

September 05, 2004
This weekend we went to the Metis Pow-wow. The Metis are an unrecognized tribe, because they're half Indian and half French or Scottish (fur traders from the 17th century). So they were very welcoming, since they've kind of got it from both sides over the years. They had fiddling and jigging on Thursday and Friday, and then Indian dancing on Saturday and Sunday. Everybody warned us that it was going to be really cold, but I forgot to bring an extra blanket, so I just had my sleeping bag, which I bought five years ago as a stop-gap from Wal-Mart until I got a good one, so I bought the cheapest one. I woke up at 3 in the morning and couldn't feel my toes anymore, even though I had warm sock on, so I went into the car, which was better at blocking the wind.

When Donna, Maureen and I were going to the food stand to get fry-bread, the server asked us, "So, are you locals?"

"We're from Hays," I said.

"Ah...you're a little light," she said. We said we were teachers there. So much for passing. Everyone in town knows we're the new teachers because we are the only new people who ever come here. Other people might move in, but they're usually related to people in town.

I bought a bear woodcut for Emerald. Ever since I sent my family a postcard with a black bear catching a fish from Glacier, all Emerald has been talking about is that she wants to go swimming in that pool with the bear. I told her that bears were really big, some even bigger than Dad.

"I'm not scared, sister," she said scornfully. They were also selling bear claws, but I think Mom would kill me if I sent her that.

2:54 p.m.
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