Tag Archives: Armed Forces

North American Indian Days 2015

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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Last week, July 9th thru the 12th, The Blackfeet tribe put on its 64th annual North American Indian days (or NAID) on its reservation at Browning, Montana. It was 4 solid days of Dancing, singing, fellowship, and socializing amongst one of the largest gathering of Indian tribes in the United States and Canada.

Every event held throughout the celebration began with the Grand Entrance where the color guard, made up of military veterans from the various tribes, brought in the colors. These included our American flag, Canada’s flag, the Blackfeet tribe’s flag, and others to be presented with respect to everyone assembled. Many men and women of the tribes served in the armed forces and this is a very important part of the ceremony. To participate in this honor, with drums sounding out their deep resonance, singers celebrating with their voices, joining the gathering of hundreds of spectators, the sun beating down and the hot wind blowing through the presentation arbor, this is an experience that will remain with you for a very long time.

When you attend this event one of the first things you notice is the riot of color around you. The regalia, the decorations, the site itself is full of every hue of color imaginable, from the earth tones of the arbor and dancing area to the manmade colors of some regalia, and the natural shades of the surrounding area. The natural light of the far northern part of our country has its own unique look and feel also, and being just a little more than 12 miles from the eastern entrance to Glacier National Park adds to the overall effect with mountains in the background and of course amazing sunsets.

The sounds are the next thing you notice as the deep rhythmic notes of the many drums and songs work their way into your senses. Drums and drummers from many places around the country, the singers joining in, the sounds of the calls made by the various participants as they dance around the arbor, are nearly overwhelming. You are immersed in the experience completely. They draw you in and mesmerize you even if you don’t understand the words. It is easy to get lost in the sound and action and swirling colors, but that is part of the experience of being here. And it feels good.

Over the next few days we will be bringing you the sights of this incredible experience, the regalia , the dances, along with the other events such as the rodeos and Indian Relay Races, plus some of the views of the countryside around the events themselves. It was a spectacular experience. If you can, go to the next one, it is worth every second you spend there. The Blackfeet welcome all guests and you’ll never forget the time you spent at The North American Indian Days celebration.

Lest We Forget

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HermanRady9005

Every year at the Greeley Stampede they have one night where they dedicate the rodeo to the men and women who have served and are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Thursday night was that night and they called it Patriots day. This Thursday, besides remembering and saluting all the service people that served in all the conflicts, they paid special homage to the Wounded Warriors, those service personnel that were injured while serving their country in the Middle East, and those of course who paid the ultimate price.

As you can imagine there were a lot of vets attending the rodeo tonight from the most recent conflict in the Middle East. Then travelling slowly back in time there were vets from other wars, Viet Nam, Korea, WWll. As you can imagine the numbers of those attending dwindled the further back in time we went. There were only two here tonight from WWll.

This is Herman Rady, a WWll survivor. He is 94 and remembers every detail of his time spent in the service. For him that period in his life is as fresh today as any vet’s memories are from their time spent doing their duty, even if his time was over 70 years ago. The passage of time has added a few wrinkles to his face but his eyes are sparkling with life as he takes in the swirling crowds going past him. He stands quietly leaning on his cane, letting the hubbub flow around him, a small island of serenity in an otherwise chaotic world. He is quietly modest about his service, simply acknowledging that it was something everyone had to do, so you did it.

Often called the Greatest Generation, we look back at those men and women and acknowledge the sacrifice and effort put forth by them at a very dark time in the world’s history. They literally saved the world from becoming a very different place, one that we can only imagine at how terrible it would have been and what our lives would be like now if not for their victory. When told that we were proud of him and appreciative of his participation at that time, he says a quiet thank you but then adds “One of the things I’m most proud of is being married to my wife Freda for 71 years, that’s something to be proud of. You don’t see that much anymore.” You’re right Herman, we don’t, and that’s one more thing we can add in our thanks to you and your wonderful wife Freda, for carrying forth the values and traditions of our great county. And with that we salute you, Herman Rady. I’m proud to have met you.Thank you for your service.