by Suzukitty

Created on: May 12, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Mother's day this year I will not soon forget. It was one of the most spiritual days I've ever had. I spent it with my family and the native people at the Mother's Day Pow Wow. We celebrated not only mothers, but the mother to us all, Mother Earth.
They made me feel welcome as their guest to the festivities as we all received a morning blessing to start the day's events. This was not my first pow wow, but it definitely was the best! I danced with them, talked with them, connected with them and learned so much from them.

I have always had such a respect for their people and culture. Their dancing is amazing and their music stirs my soul.
My daughter and I joined them in the circle for the maternal blessing dance. My spirit soared as my feet followed the beat of the drums...and my heart. Their singing filled my ears and reached deep within me to touch my soul. It was simply entrancing! I longed to continue, but took a seat to the professionals. LOL
I had the pleasure of meeting my Cherokee email buddy that organizes the festivities, Chipa Wolf and his horse Cola, a beautiful brown and white pony. Chipa was such an inspiration to continue my fight for the trees from the mounds, and we prevailed. He thanked me for my dedication to the natives and vowed a lasting alliance with me. I felt humbled and grateful to have found such a friend and am proud to call him one.
I met a wonderful flutist named Tony Wildcat who plays often at the Etowah mounds. He has been such an asset to our events we have out there and we are blessed to have him...many of his people are very uncomfortable at the mounds because it is on sacred burial ground. That fact in itself makes me great about the tours I give out there. In a way, I feel like I'm giving back to them through educating others. They want me there to teach, preserve and protect the site.
A wonderful opportunity to speak at some length with a man named Mark Bearfoot presented itself. He was a native artisan there and I hung on his every word. I learned more about the natives than ever and my heart grew as he spoke of his childhood and how he was treated...
and I felt a sense of shame. Not of myself but at the inhumanity of men. White men called them savages as they came in and took their land...because they tried to defend it. Please tell me, if someone tried to come take your home, what would you do? Who realizes that it
wasn't until the 1980s that our great state of Georgia recognized the native people as equals with equal rights?

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