POW WOW

Sun Bear was the first book seller at the Arlee Pow Wow (Montana)in the late '60's, and I accompanied him to a few in the early '70's. He had two boxes of various books on Indian Culture and History (only his BUFFALO HEARTS had been published at that point), and his magazine, MANY SMOKES. He loved talking to people, and he had jewelry from the Southwest for sale as well. He'd ask the little guys to sell the magazine for $1.00 and bring him the money, and he'd give them a dime. (In those days a dime could actually buy something.) They'd return over and over, and he'd exhaust his pocketful of dimes, and the magazine would get distributed to the population it was written for. Yesterday I made yet another trek to the Pow Wow. I go every few years because I feel at home there. It is a reunion, an art piece, a heartbeat. My husband and I watched the Dancers, danced in the Round Dance, ate frybread, and eventually wandered around the booths. Sure enough: one (and only one) booth selling books. It was a great selection, and I approached the seller. I told him I'd sold books with Sun Bear there years ago. He said, "Sun Bear. Oh yeah, I've heard of him. He's dead now." I said I'd be happy to give him a book I wrote about my time with Sun Bear, and he could sell it or give it away, whatever he wanted. He said, "No. I'm good." Another year, shortly after Sun Bear died, I approached the announcer in the dancing arena. I asked if he knew SB. "Yeah." I asked if he'd consider letting folks know SB had died earlier in the year. "Why would I want to do that?" Sun Bear's reputation among Indian people was quite varied. He was one of the very first to offer pipe and sweatlodge to the public. His promiscuity and the notion that he charged big money for sweatlodge and medicine wheel gatherings prevented many people from understanding his vision. Yet I attended a Sacred Pipe Circle offered by a Lakota elder last week near Big Hole, Montana, and listened to the same rap SB would have given. It can all be boiled down to three words: We are One. Or: Walk in Balance. Or five words: The Earth is Our Mother. I'll keep going to the Arlee Pow Wow. I love to watch Bone Game (not many tourists linger under that roof). I love to see the tiny dancers, decked out, free on the dance floor. I'm excited the arena is carpeted now. How that must help the old ones with COPD, and the new babies. I am still awestruck at the costumes. Surrounded by so many eagle and hawk feathers, I am blessed beyond measure. And when I see a face I've seen before, even if we've never met, I am greeting family. Ah ho!