The Navajo Nation Fair just wrapped up yesterday. Unfortunately, I was only able to go to one powwow and the parade before getting really sick with respiratory infections (probably due to already having a cold and the additional dust that gets kicked up yearly from the fair! lol). I did manage to get a few pictures of some of the dancers participating in the parade this year. Also unfortunately, we did seem to be positioned in the wrong place so they just walked by us and danced down the road a bit, lol. Add to it, somebody put a greasy thumbprint on my lens (only one in this household has fingers small enough to do that but I won't name names!). But I did manage to get some pictures that are okay for checking out the various traditional dresses of the dancers. There were no Zuni jingle dancers participating in the parade but they were at the powwow so I'll have to loot through my father-in-law's pictures to see what he took at the powwow. Just keep in mind I was really sick and coughing while taking these pictures...LOL

Navajo Ribbon Dancers

Hee hee, unfortunately, it's a wee bit crooked isn't it? Yet, it's better than the one that wasn't crooked because it has more of the dancers in it...lol The cute little girl in braids is my husband's second cousin, Kali. She had a great time between shouting to the various tribal princesses about how she liked their crowns and collecting up heaps of candy.

Hawaiian? Dancers

Now whether these women were actually Hawaiian or not, I have no clue but they sure looked it! They also danced in traditional Hawaiian fashion so they could've been Hawaiian. Usually, we don't get these dancers but that wasn't the only peculiar thing that showed up in the parade. And yes, that's my son's back in the photo. It was hard keeping them out of the street because in between the dancers were politicians and local companies tossing out tons of candy, pencils and fruit to the children.

Zuni Girls with Pots

These girls were really impressive. Although it looks as if they were just walking along, balancing the pots on their heads, they actually had a slight dancestep to show off their balancing skills. Was really neat to see. My son was most impressed...it even distracted him from checking out all the candy he had collected so far...

Apache Dancers with Clown

These dancers once made all the children and girls scream! They would dance while the clown would walk around the crowd, swinging something (not sure of what), and grabbing a child/girl to drag into the dance. They don't do that anymore but the adults remember and try to scare the kids. Doesn't work, which is a shame. It's kind of fun to imagine such a lighthearted child orientated dance. The clown in this picture is the one whose body is painted white.

Don't Ask Me

This troope was decidedly Asian in heritage. We are guessing that they were Chinese. It was definitely a surprise and was kind of fun to watch them. Still not sure what it was all about though, they had some young men doing tai chi in the back of a truck with another meditating. Was interesting and definitely different. The Navajo really LOVE chinese food out here so maybe that's why the fair committee arranged for this troop.

Navajo Ribbon Dancers

A second set of ribbon dancers, this time with a slightly different dress, came through as well.

Aztec Dancers

This was a HUGE treat. The Aztec dancers haven't shown up in previous parades of the last few years but they did participate in Gallup, NM's intertribal parade last year. They showed up this time and they are one of my husband's favorite traditional dancers. He also loves eagle dancers and the Apache clown dancers, too.

Aztec drummer

What you don't see in the other pictures are the drummers and singers that were accompanying all of the dancers. In this case, the drummer was part of the dancers. In some of the other pictures, the drummers had to be transported in the back of a truck because the traditional drum is very large--almost the size of a kitchen table.

Hope you all enjoy the photos. Hopefully, my father in law took some good ones at the powwow that we went to Friday night so I can put up some pictures of jingle dancers and more. Although the town goes crazy during fair time (you should see the aftermath, it's a MESS here), it's really the best time to come and visit because of all the dancers. They make it great.

Stephanie

In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson