6/8/2015 Pow Wow in the Pines

(Pinetop, AZ)

Today Bob and I joined fellow workampers Dana and Judy on a trip to Pinetop, about a half hour away.

The purpose of our trip was to attend the 18th Annual Pow Wow in the Pines.  It was held on the grounds of the Hon-dah Resort, Casino and Conference Center.

Tribes from all over the United States and Canada are here for the competition between dancers and drums.  Two of the categories are fancy dance and the grass dance.  The stakes are high as each tribe is competing for their share of the $39,000 in prize money.

Of course in addition to the dancing and drumming were food tents, and lots of jewelry sellers.



If I was into Indian jewelry I could have spent a fortune!  Lucky for my wallet that I am quite satisfied with my one pair of turquoise earrings.

To say that things were colorful would be a huge understatement. 

We got there early enough that we had our choice of the bleacher seats.  If the truth be told we wish we hadn’t gotten there so early.  It was HOT!

At noon the dancing started and I have to say it was a really slow start.  So many people had to be acknowledged and it seemed the list went on and on.  We had to wait for each one to come out of the crowd and shake hands with about a dozen people standing in a receiving line.  The crowd was getting restless needless to say.

Finally.  The dancers and tribes members were brought into the arena and the line of people went on and on before they all got it.  Did I mention it was hot?

I told you!  Color overload!

It was like a crate of a thousand crayons exploded in my head!


You could “hear” these ladies coming before you saw them.


This fellow was doing a special dance.  This was his coming of age ceremony.  All the people on the left are his family members.  Today he received his first eagle feather.


These dancers tired me out just watching them.  Round and round the arena they went a different movement with arms and legs with each step.

There was still lots more dancing and drum playing but they stopped in the middle of it all so the host tribe could greet some members of others tribes.  Each member was given a basket and we had to wait for each one to come out of the crowd and shake everyone’s hand again and be presented with a laundry basket filled with gifts and it was sooooo HOT!  So we said, “We came, we saw, we sweat and it was time to get of here!”

I can’t tell you how good that air conditioned vehicle felt!

We decided to stop and eat dinner on the way and stopped at Charlie Clark's Steak House.  We all had a very good meal and said we would come back here again…..again.

So this was our day at the Pow Wow in the Pines.  Hot as hell but a good time all the same!