Friday, October 22, 2010

Pre-Columbus Day Celebration

I had a Monday of from school. It was Columbus Day, however, since I left Chicago the holiday has been changed to “Explorers Dat.” Never-the-less, the day is recognized by many for its original designation. That is true especially for Native Americans. So, during my last visit to the ANIWIM Center I was invited to attend their “Pre-Columbus Day Celebration” at Indian Boundary Park.

Cathi first introduced me to the park. It is a unique neighborhood park. Beside its lagoon it has a small zoo. Today the exotic animals have all been replaced with domestic/farm animals. The lagoon has had the biggest change. It had all non-native plants removed. It is now a bird sanctuary. While I was there families and elderly were constantly visiting the pond.


Indian Boundary Park Bird Sanctuary

I then went over to the celebration. They had drummers. There were booths and there was of course food. When I was there they were mainly giving the little kids an opportunity to practice their developing dance skills. I have been to big, impressive Pow Wows. This was not that. This was a very nice day for a community to celebrate its heritage and support the cultural growth of their children. I left with a smile on my face.


Pre-Columbus Day Celebration

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