Festival proves Indian culture is alive and well

Eric Leake

Monday, April 4, 2005 | 9:13 a.m.

Joey Allen made traditional tule duck decoys at the Native American Arts Festival Sunday and spoke of responsibility.

He carved and bound tule and cattail stalks as relatives had taught him.

"I think what compels me to do this is out of duty. I'm one of the last people taught by that family to do this. Eventually, it's going to go," he said.

Allen, 27, is of the Paiute-Shoshone tribe outside Fallon. He constructs decoys in the manner of the 2,000-year-old tule duck decoys, the Nevada state artifact.

"I want to put a sign out that says this is not just for show. This is substantial," Allen said.

Event organizers expected that by Sunday night about 9,000 people had attended the 16th annual Native American Arts Festival during its three days at the Clark County Museum in Henderson.

The festival featured dozens of performers, more than 50 art booths, and American Indian foods such as fry bread.

"This is cultural sharing. We want people to learn more about each other," said festival director Christie Leavitt, who is also museum curator of education.

She said the festival was larger this year than in any past. She said it is a popular opportunity for people to buy genuine Indian art.

The festival was also an opportunity for the Jones family to sit on the amphitheater lawn and watch Indian dance.

"It's more for the history," Bobbie Jones said of the family's reasons for attending. "It's also just a nice family day."

Cody Jones, 6, had a bear claw painted on her cheek and said, "The dance is best."

Onstage, dancers wore eagle headdresses and wings across their arms. They mimicked flight as players beat drums and chanted.

Other dances featured white buffalo and hoop dancers. All were preceded by an explanation of the significance of each dance.

The dances were also the favorite of Sergio Pino, 8, who said, "I like the songs, too."

Sergio and his father, Brian Pino, are Navajo and live in Henderson. Pino said the festival is a good introduction to Indian culture that improves every year.

"I come out for the culture, the tradition, for my son because I live away from my reservation," Pino said.

He and Sergio then jumped up to link hands with performers and the crowd dancing around the amphitheater.

Chris Edaakie, 26, leads the Nawetsa dance troupe out of the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. The troupe has been dancing and touring since 1995.

"It's basically a way to notify the mainstream society that we're still alive and kicking. We're still going at it," Edaakie said of the performances.

Preserving the culture is a challenge, he said, in and out of reservations.

"It's very difficult to try to keep people motivated to stay in our Indian traditions," Edaakie said.

"We don't want to keep them away from the mainstream society, but then we want to have them. We try to live the best of both worlds," he said.

Members of the Jones Benally Family Navajo dance troupe balance both worlds through their Indian dance and politically driven punk rock band Blackfire.

"For our own native communities it's very healing to see the traditional and the modern exhibited by the same people," said Klee Benally, 29.

"A lot of people think that you have to choose the traditional or the modern," he said as he sold CDs and pipestone jewelry.

"But the reality is that it's one world crossed by many different paths."