Sprout 8: Photo Project

Lydia’s senior pictures:

This summer my sister asked if I would take her senior pictures for her.  This was not because I am an excellent photographer but for two reasons.

1.      She thought most of her friends photo’s looked the same and were taken in the same three locations

2.     She is awesome and even at 17 she is frugal, why spend money when you don’t have to!

So two weeks ago she came to visit with a friend and we had some fun around town.  There were tons of amazing photos; of course my sister is beautiful, although not all were “senior picture” in nature. These are a few of my favorite.

I also took some photo’s of Lydia’s friend any my other sister, maybe I’ll post some of them later.

Chickahominy Harvest Festival

A few weeks ago Joey and I attended the Chickahominy Harvest powwow.   This was a work trip and I had to write what I learned in order to get points for re-certification.  Most of what I learned was in the car ride on the way to the event. Since I was going to write this and had some awesome photos I figured I would share it.

While spending the day with a member of the Chickahomoiny Tribe I had the opportunity to clear up many misconceptions about the American Indians (what they prefer to be called).

 First, there are East Coast and West Coast Indians, and much of the media portrayal of Indians is based on the West Coast traditions.   The differences cover a vast array of things, from the mundane to core traditions and beliefs.   On the surface level the dress and housing are different; the east coast tribes lived in cabins and lean-tos not teepees. 

But more complex is the difference in belief. The Chickahomoiny are monotheistic.  They believe in creator God, who sent His warrior Son, as a sacrifice for them.  This influence came from the Baptist missionaries that settled in the area in the 1600’s.   The Chickahomoiny hold to Rev. 7:9-10, “After this I looked, and behold a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”  This is a far cry from the spirit worshipers I had imagined, or the talking trees Disney taught me about. 

Our guide was an American Indian from the Chickahominy tribe and there was also a member from a New England tribe that traveled with our group. One of the things that frustrated our guide was the historical inaccuracies in the First Thanksgiving

There are three widely believed myths: first, it was not the “first”.  There had been a harvest gathering each year in Burkley, VA starting with settlers before the pilgrims.   Second, is how the actual events of “thanksgiving” occurred.  The Pilgrims were starving, so in order to feed themselves they had been killing and raiding Indian homesteads.  While on one raid they desecrated a grave and the Chief gathered the warriors to kill the pilgrims.  When the Chief arrived in the village he saw that the people were starving and instead told his men to go and kill deer and pheasant and make a meal for the people who were on the verge of death.

Third, the Indians portrayed in most Thanksgiving images are far from an accurate representation of the East Coast Indians.  They did not wear headdresses like the ones in most images, the headdresses that are usually shown are western and were only used in times of war.  Also the northern east coast Indians would have had a blanket/wrap/poncho type of attire in the cold winter months; they would not have been bare-chested.

This information was given in our car ride to the powwow; at the powwow we saw some of these traditions in action.   The Chief started the day out with a prayer that was clearly Christian then we were able to see native dress or regalia of the local tribesmen which was different depending on what type of dance you did.  Also, since this is a Harvest Powwow, we were told that the Tribe does not worship the earth or the harvest but the intent is to show gratitude for the blessings.  

The Powwow started with the booming of a drum circle and the haunting singing/chanting of the men involved.  Then the dance circle started with Warriors (veterans) first and then the various forms of dance.  Once they had filled in the circle they asked that the Warriors move to the center and all other veterans in the crowd come and join them for an honorary dance.  The rest of the Powwow was a competition for the six different styles of dance. The powwow ended with honoring those from the tribe who have passed on.