Indian Canyon Story Telling

Yesterday I attended the Indian Canyon Story Telling event. So you might ask, what is Indian Canyon? Here's the website opening for which I have a link below.

"Indian Canyon is the only land continuously held by the Ohlone people, the first inhabitants of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas. Indian Canyon is the only federally recognized "Indian Country" along coastal Northern California From Santa Barbara to Sonoma.
In order to provide a place for Indigenous people who need land for ceremony, Indian Canyon hosts over five sweat lodges, beautiful arbor area for gatherings, and offers a round house area (site for our future traditional Village House) for special events. In addition to offering 30-40 areas for individual prayer and ceremony. Indian Canyon provides research and exchange opportunities for students and interns from throughout Northern California." This is the opening paragraph of their website found here. Here is more insight into the Ohlone Indians."

The even I attended has hospitality(food and warm greetings), music, dance, and story telling. The setting is beautiful with large oak trees, wonderful shade from the direct sun and much to explore if you had the time.

I arrived early and I must confess, the idea came from fellow photographer Nancy Mirabella who has attended the event several times. After driving around fields tended by farmers, this seemed like a real oasis. At the time I didn't realize this has been a special place for thousands of years.

We arrived early, and people were busy getting the event set up and as folks arrived they just seemed to relax. An no Sharkey didn't come but maybe next time.

Everyone was dressed for the occassion from hats to headdresses.

Here's a beautiful mother and daughter ready for the festival.

Another mother daughter Tamara and Shyla posed for me. The tatoo on her shoulder is off her daughter, at a younger age.

Shyla has aspirations for modeling, so I took a single image for her. She is a lovely young woman.

I did snap more images of some of the musicians, all of which were quite good.

The storytelling was very interesting and really kept the attention of everyone. A single image of someone standing at a mic doesn't give enough of an picture since storytelling is all about listening and your mind's eye. While the storytelling was taking place, this woman gives you an image of concentration on what's being said. Want to learn more, come to one of these events.

And there was dancing! And as you can see, there's a special place for this event that allows you to watch everything up close.

It was great just to sit back and watch these dancers. But...............................................................

Sitting back didn't last long before the dancers came into the audience and invited folks to dance with them! I hid behind my camera, but Nancy didn't!

It was a very interesting day for a photographer even if the light was mostly bright sunlight. I learned a lot, bought a drum for myself, and learned a great deal about the indigenous Indians of Northern California. I was very impressed with the warmth, passion, and dedication of the people who have maintained this site and it's traditions. Here's an image of another attendee who brought a wee one to the event. They sat in front of me part of the time and I couldn't help photographing this beautiful baby and Dad.