Attended the Gourd Gathering at Peach Springs, AZ last weekend. My Grandpa was from there and so me and several of my cousins went to visit our relatives. My cousin Rudy Clarke was one of the organizers, along with Ivan Bender. This year's gathering was dedicated to Ivan's father Emmett who was one of the Hualapai people's elder singers. Emmitt passed away about a year and a half ago. It was good to see Guy Trujillo and his singers there. I was real proud of his young singers- they helped out with the feed and were respectful of what was happening.
The gathering did have dance contests. My relatives and I did not sing or dance because we're sitting out for the year. But, none of us really want to do the competition thing. Which brings me to a question-
What do you think about contest singing and dancing?
This is going to sound weird, but I really hate money. Especially when it becomes intertwined with cultural things. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's important to be able to support one's family. But I always wonder what $$ and contests will do to the art of bird singing. Will it alter how it's done now? Has it already been altered from the past?
As usual, I want to say that I don't think I'm right and everybody else is wrong. But I definately think this is a question that is worth asking. So,
what do you think?Piepa!
