It was truly a privilege to once again be able to attend a Native American powwow. Powwows are gatherings of American Indians to celebrate their shared culture with an emphasis on music, drumming and dance. Threading Our Legacies Powwow was held at the basketball arena on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. The Ute, Shoshone and Navajo tribes seemed to be the most well-represented tribes there, but it also seemed as though people had come from far and wide to participate. During the Grand Entrance which begins the powwow, hundreds of dancers followed the eagle staff and flags onto the floor and there were at least 5 drum groups to provide the rhythm of the day. Powwows are incredibly colorful events with participants wearing beautiful regalia which takes many hours to create. These photos are just a small sampling of the people who participated in the day but I hope they will give you some idea of how beautiful it was and how awesome it was to be there.
Hello Everyone. It’s been a pleasant and reasonably slow week here in Utah. The temperatures have definitely gone up significantly and it feels like we are jumping right from winter to summer out here. I’ve spent plenty of time in Utah in summer in my life, so I know that’s not exactly true, but going from 40°F to 85°F is still a significant jump in a week. I’ve spent most of the week in the Greater Salt Lake City area, an area I’ve spent a decent amount of time in in the past but have never really had an opportunity to explore. I went to an amazing American Indian Powwow, learned more about the Mormon faith and history and generally enjoyed my time out in the Salt Lake Valley. This may have been my last full week here in Utah, and closing out my time in a state is always bittersweet. I’ve really enjoyed these last 5 weeks in the Beehive State, and I’ve certainly learned a lot about what makes it tick. That being said, the warmer temperatures are going to push me north and into the mountains, which is what I’ve been looking forward to all winter. Anyways, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, so let’s get right into how I spent my week here in north-central Utah.
After finishing up this post last week I used the rest of the daylight to cruise on up the road to Delta. Along the way I was excited to visit the town of Harding (my last name), but it turned out to only be a crossroads – no sign, no buildings, no nothing. That was disappointing, but the sun was already down when I got there, so I continued on and had a quiet night when I got to Delta. On Thursday morning I started my day with a visit to the Topaz Museum in the heart of downtown Delta. I got there right when the museum was opening and the docent who was there was a former Delta schoolteacher who spent a nice bit of time introducing me to museum.
