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a quick o'siyo and — oo lee hey lee sdee —
(welcome)
to the new folks and the already folks in the circle
from this
gramma in chippewa country.
this is the weekend of the gitchi nimiwin (big dance) at
leech lake:
all the rocks and pebbles rolled in for the end of the summer
powwow,
announcing the recent arrival of 2 more pebbles,
great grandson
colby
and great grand daughter ayana
the powwow trail runs right through the middle
of gramma
and granpa rock's house
here in gamiskwawakacog (the red pine place)
this gramma is still rounding up all the sandy socks
from
under and in and around the furniture
and trying to figure out whose clothes
are in the dryer
and where all the towels went.
granpa is down at the
powwow grounds
cleaning up the veteran's concession stand.
the canoes are lined up and ready to go out on the
lakes
as they "open" here in the land where rice
is a verb and a
season
and a major element of the traditional culture.
the freshly
harvested manomin (wild rice)
is spread on the tarps in the back yard
and
drying out in the sun,
to be parched and thrashed and winnowed
in the
rock family processing outfit.
the songbirds are picking out the rice worms
from the grain beards.
