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Videos of the Week
Shoshone-Bannock History in Idaho PART I OF II: 2008's historic Idaho Democratic Convention, held in Boise, ID, June 12-14, invited Idaho Native American Tribal members from the Shoshone-Bannock/Fort Hall, Shoshone-Paiute/Duck Valley, Nez Perce, and Coeur D'Alene tribal communities to take an active part in the convention activities. On June 12th, the Idaho AFL-CIO hosted a Democratic picnic for convention goers. Mr. Ted Howard, Cultural Resource Director, Duck Valley, spoke to picnic participants about the Shoshone-Paiute-Bannock history in the Boise Valley area. 9:49 minutes.
Part II-Grand Entry, Flag Ceremony and Recessional All convention tribal members participated in the grand entry at the beginning of the June 13th Idaho Democratic Convention gathering followed by a flag ceremony and presentation by Mr. Lee Juan Tyler, Council Member, Shoshone-Bannock/Fort Hall community. Fort Hall and Duck Valley singers and drummers played songs for the grand entry, flag ceremony and recessional.
9:59 minutes
7 Generations Elder Orin Lyons talks about preparing for the next 7 generations. 8:43 minutes
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Learn about native american indian culture & traditions, American Indian languages, arts & crafts, and native american history from the tribal perspective. Current events, news, stories & issues of concern to native americans. Education for non-indians on cultures, beliefs & perspectives of the indigenous native americans of North America.
QUESTION: Hi, I am an Australian woman of aboriginal decent who would dearly love to visit your country to learn more of this beautiful culture, Could you recommend any native American tours or places to visit where i can absorb some of your culture?
? ~Submitted by Rain C..
Answer: Hi Rain, I'd suggest attending an authentic native american pow wow. There is a pow wow somewhere almost every weekend of the year, although the summer is the peak pow wow season.
Western pow wows are usually (but not always) outdoors, with free camping on the grounds for the duration of the pow wow. Camping is usually primitive - they have cold running water from a few spigots and portable out houses for toilets (hint:bring your own toilet paper, they are always out) but no shower facilities and rarely flush toilets.
Crow Fair & Rodeo, Crow Agency, Montana
My favorite is the Crow Fair, All-Indian Rodeo and Pow Wow. There is no charge to attend. It's always held the third weekend in August at Crow Agency, Montana (Billings, Montana would be the closest big airport, about 120 miles away). They have over 1,000 tipis in the encampment on the pow wow grounds and are known as the Tipi Capital of the World. They claim to be the largest outdoor pow wow in the Americas. It is certainly the largest I have attended, and I've been to 100s of pow wows.
There is also an all indian rodeo and horse races going on at the same time and daily camp parades in addition to native american ceremonies and dancing.
It is free to camp on the pow wow grounds during the pow wow, but facilities are primitive. Expect it to be hot and dusty, usually in the 90s. But staying on the pow wow grounds is the best way to really experience the event. Come early to get a good camp spot.
Campers start coming in on Wednesday, although the pow wow doesn't officially start until Friday, when most tourists arrive. They have various ceremonies like give aways and naming ceremonies, etc, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. They dance on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday afternoon and evening. There are so many native dancers that they usually have to have two grand entries to get them all into the dance arena.
They also have stick games in the evening (an indian gambling game that usually seems somewhat perplexing to tourists, yet fun to watch). There will be many food booths and craft vendors set up around the dance arena.
If you want to stay in a motel during the powwow within a 100 miles, you probably should book your room six months to a year in advance. The closest motels are in Hardin, Montana, about 20 miles away (limited rooms) or Billings, Montana, about a two hour drive away.
Nine miles down the road, just outside of Crow Agency, is the actual site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer's Last Stand) and nearby is the Little Big Horn Memorial Center and Cemetary.
It's about a day's drive from this area to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone Park has the largest wild buffalo herd in the US, about 3,000 of them. You might also see wolves, bears, elk, moose and deer in the park. Yellowstone is also known for it's famous geyser, Old Faithful, and many other geothermal wonders. I think there is a $20.00 fee to enter the park in a car. There is one lodge in the park (reserve a year in advance) and many RV Parks and campgrounds (reserve several months in advance).
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