2011 Thundering Spirit Pow Wow

2011 Thundering Spirit Pow Wow

This coming weekend is one of the Biggest Pow Wows in Florida (in my opinion... in case any of you don't realize... that is what is blog is ... people opinions )  It is one of the Very Few that has Entertainment throughout the Entire weekend, something for Everyone. 

 

I have been working on, helping out, promoting, and setting up my shop at this pow wow since 2005.  This year I am taking a break, I will not be setting the shop up, so I will actually be able to Enjoy the Pow Wow and visit with people!!  YAY!! My husband is the Firekeeper, so I would always be trapped in the shop working all weekend.  This year I will have some items for sale in our good friends shop "Native Heart" they will carry my picture earrings, beaded military keychains, beaded feathers and a selection of other items.  So if you want to stop and say hello, but are not sure who I am, just stop by the East gate and ask the Firekeeper where Spiderwrulf is.

March 4 - 6, 2011 Thundering Spirit Pow Wow

Renninger's Twin Markets

20651 New 441 Mount Dora, Florida 32757

Renninger's Twin Markets, 20651 New Highway 441 Mount Dora, Florida 32757 ~ Just East of Mount Dora ~ Just 30 miles North of Orlando. Friday  Grand Entry at 7:00pm; Saturday Grand Entry at 1:00pm & 7:00pm Sunday Grand Entry at 1:00pm; Gates Open at 10:00am Daily.  MC: Ric Bird; Head Veteran: TBA; Head Man Dancer: Bob Dubose; Head Woman Dancer: Sandy DuBose; Host Drum: Family Drum Singers; Co-Host Drum: Bird Chopper Bird Family Drum; Firekeeper: Ken Cloudwalker ; Color Guard:TBA; Friday is Children's Day from 9:00am - 2:00pm with special Demonstrations, Games, etc.  Please join us for Traditional Native American Culture Including: Drumming, Dancing, Crafts, and Food.  Bring the whole Family and spend the day, Don't forget to bring Chair. Tony Ledford  352 636-4271 ThunderSpiritFam@yahoo.com PO BOX 1141, Eustis, FL  32727 http://www.thunderingspiritfamily.com/

Ormond Beach, Florida Pow Wow

 January 21 - 23, 2011 ~  21st Annual Native American Festival The Casements ~ 25 Riverside Drive ~ Ormond Beach, Florida Info (386)676-3216 Sponsored by The Department of Leisure Services; Intertribal Native Dancers, Aztec Dancers from Mexico, Reptile & Wildlife Exhibits, Native American Cuisine, Over 30 Trading Booths; Friday 10am-9pm, Saturday 10am-9pm, Sunday 10am-5pm ~ Daily Admission: Adult US $6.00; Senior US $5.00; Child US $4.00

If you are in the area, check out this pow wow.  There are a LOT of Great things to See, Learn, and DO.  Plenty of Great Artisans and Entertainers.  They have Gators & Hawks and Tons of FOOD!! 

We will actually have one of our Distributors Vending at this pow wow, so if you are planning on attending and want to save some shipping, just let me know and I will be sure to send those items.  This pow wow is Definitely one of the Finer pow wows in Florida.  So be sure to visit Native Heart, Joey & Janell ~ Silversmith; Veterans:Caps, Patches, Pins, Decals, & T-shirts; Tribal Hats, Native Crafts, Handcrafted Gourd Art (and Beadwork by Six Directions Traders)

For more pow wow listings in the southeast United States be sure to visit www.SixDirectionsTraders.com and click on the pow wow page.

New Year and on to New Things

Thank you everyone for all the cards and prayers sent over this holiday season.   I don't celebrate them much but it was nice to be thought of  whilst we make our way through the end of another year. 

I haven't blogged much, due to the fact that we are  not travelling this winter.  I try to post encouraging articles ever so often, to let you all know that I am thinking about each and Every one of you.  I have several New things in the works for this year.  First of which is my online shop, which I am happy to say is doing well. 

http://www.artfire.com/users/SixDirectionsTraders

 In fact, I was able to open an Etsy shop as well.  The Etsy shop will be mainly to sell beads, pendants, and components.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SixDirectionsTraders

Recently I have been designing and beading brick stitch picture earrings.  I am trying to make a couple of the same pattern in different color schemes to fatten up the store inventory.  As I am listing them in the online shop, I name the different color schemes and designs, so I can keep track of them.  My good friend Tarponjuli was so honored that I named the Lizard pattern after her, that she purchased the first one!  Thanks so much Juli, it means a lot to me.  So, above is pictured the next pair I made of the Lizard Tarponjuli earrings, and after putting the loop for the ear hook I realized it was upside down.  So I cut the thread tied it off and started another thread to re-do the ear hook loop of beads.  Then as I am finishing the last knot, I notice that I did the same exact thing!!! It was still upside down!!  LOL  Ok, so do I just keep it that way?  Or try for a third time to put the loop where I want it to be?!?

I have been hard at work on the web sites, there are updates beginning on the NEW 2011 pow wow page.  There is another section of my website that is a feed from a pow wow listing site.  PowWowTime.com started out listing pow wows in the Western half of the United States, and they are expanding to listing the entire country.   

The Printable Florida Pow Wow List for  Spring 2011 is updated Here:

http://www.sixdirectionstraders.com/spring2011list.doc

Listings in red do not have confirmed dates as of yet.  And as we have seen recently in Florida, some pow wows have gotten cancelled or changed to different months than they used to be held on.  So, as always, I will do my best to provide as correct information as possible on these events.  But it would be in YOUR best interest to contact someone from the pow wow yourself for more specific questions.

 

Thundering Spirit Family Pow wow website has begun being updated for the year 2011!  This year is dedicated to:

*Returning to the Old Ways*

~ Dance to Remember ~

March 4 - 6, 2011

Renninger's Twin Markets

20651 Highway 441 Mount Dora, Florida 32757

Just East of Mount Dora ~  Just 30 miles  North of Orlando  ~ East of Mount Dora, Leesburg, Inverness ~ Just 30 miles North of Orlando ~ West of Deltona, DeBary, Sanford ~ South of Gainsville, Ocala, Umatilla

Friday March 4th 2011, Grand Entry at 7:00pm  Saturday March 5th 2011, Grand Entry at 1:00pm & 7:00pm  Sunday March 6th 2011 Grand Entry at 1:00pm ~ Gates Open at 10:00am Daily

Friday March 4th is Children's Day from 9:00am - 2:00pm with special Demonstrations, Games, etc.   

Please join us for Traditional Native American Culture Including: Drumming, Dancing, Crafts, and Food.  Bring the whole Family and spend the day,  Don't forget to bring Chairs and/or Blankets to sit on

Admission ~ Required Donation: Adults $4.00 Children Under 12 FREE ~ Active, Retired or Service Persons Admitted FREE

MC: Ric Bird Head Veteran: Bob 'Walks with Fire' Head Man Dancer:  Bobby DuBose Head Woman Dancer:  Sandra DuBose Host Drum: Southern Echo, Family Drum Singers, and Bird Chopper Bird Family Drum Firekeeper: Ken Cloudwalker Color Guard: Local Veterans

We are proud to announce that the following Native American Performers will be at our Pow Wow:

Award-Winning Celtic / Native American Violinist: Arvel Bird  Hoop & Fancy Shawl Dancer, Artist, Singer/Songwriter: Jackie Bird   Three–time Grammy award-winning songwriter and musician: Bill Birdsong Miller   Aztec Dancers: Tlatlacayolotl ~ Earth, Heart, Man   Guest Elder: Kashka - Tlingit Legend Keeper - Storyteller  Story Tellers: Sarah 'Sunshine Badger Woman' and Grandma Coyote Flutist: Utah Farris   Special Animal Appearances: 'Thunder' the American Bald Eagle

An outstanding collection of Native American Artisans and Traders will be bringing their Creativity, Culture, and Crafts to our Pow Wow.  For a complete listing see our Artisans Page

Host Hotel: E.com Lodge  E.Com Lodge ~ 18730 U.S. Highway 441 ~ Mount Dora, FL 32757 Tel-(352) 383-2181    Fax-(352) 383-1310 ecomlodge@comcast.net

For additional Information or to become a sponsor, Call Tony Ledford at: 352 636-4271 or 352 589-0045   ThunderSpiritFam@yahoo.com or write: PO BOX 1141 ~ Eustis, FL 32727 http://www.thunderingspiritfamily.com/

 

Boogey Creek NDN Festival

What an Awesome Park/Campground!!! In Lovely DelBocaVista, Floriduh ~ Tons of wildlife as y'all have seen from everyones pictures.  We actually had a Bobcat run across the road in front of us  while we were coming home from the store one night.  This was just a Trial thing, which is why it was a Festival and Not a Pow wow.  Lots of Informal Dancing, Fun, Friends, Family and Foreigners LOL!!

Hopefully if the people at Boggy Creek liked what we did, we will be back to do a full fledged Pow wow, and possible during Cooler weather   If anyone was there and enjoyed themselves, Please let the Boggy Creek Airboat people know by calling 407-344-9550 or email them at info@bcairboats.com   Positive Feedback will have us back

Several of our Favorite Dancers came and supported this and we had a nice Shortlist of selected vendors for the tourists to sample.  We had 3 Drums show up, Spirit Warriors was Head Drum and the guest drums were Family Drum and Red Bird Jr.  It really was a Great Last Blast before the Summer Break and it was only 9am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday, so the Vendors were able to relax and socialize a bit after the festival each day. 

Special Shout out to: White Feather ~ It was Really Great to see you and your family and reconnect!!  Also Silent Wolf & Leah ~ we finally had an event if your Neighborhood!!!

Here he sits between Grace & Mercy

The campground has full hook-ups for a Very reasonable $21 per night and there is a boat ramp and slips available for campers at no extra charge.  Now the Airboat ride is $25 for a 30 minute ride, which is a bit steep for me.  I prefer canoes anyways. 

Is that the sweetest face you ever seen?

Well, we are getting ready to head North, as the Heat, Hurricanes and Oil spill all near the Sunshine State.  Good Luck and Safe Travels to all our Pow wow peeps that will be staying behind AND those that will travel North with us as well.  Praise and Thanks to Creator for everything he provides to ALL the people. 

Much Love and many prayers from Spiderwrulf & Cloudwalker

A friend of ours Tatto

Red Eagle Lodge Pow wow 2010

What a Great Pow wow, set in a Beautiful park in Floral City, Florida!  We had such an awesome time, met new friends, renewed old friendships.  Such Positive Energy these people project with their group.  Everyone is very friendly, as if you are part of the family. 

Ken worked all weekend, and I worked hard in the shop as well.  I got a lot created and had a Busy shop most of the weekend.  I even had a woman make a special order and I created Hair Feathers Just for her!  She then went around the pow wow bragging about where she got her hair feathers

 

There is an interesting video of Little Wolf burying her Buffalo Hoof, sorry but that is all the video I got.  And the pictures from the one dance is all I got for pics.  If you Know JP, he has hundreds of pictures he took and they are posted on Facebook.  As I say it was a work weekend and So very Worth it!! 

Lots Of Positive Energy coming from the circle and dancers this weekend, the public was Awesome as always too!  At one point I was working on finishing a Loom piece sunday afternoon at Grand Entry.  I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on in the circle, but suddenly the Tears were pouring down my face.  We were so refreshed and re-energized by the people that came here, it has been some time since we had a pow wow quite like this.  If anyone gets a chance next year, you might not want to miss this one!

There were Florida Song Storytellers Lee and Betsy Paulet there, I love the Seminole story he tells about Okeechobee!! and more important, I got a copy of the Peace Pledge that Betsy and Little Squirrel did at the end.  I really think we need ALL our Children to live by this Pledge, Please Share it:

Peace Pledge

• To be a peaceful person by not fighting or encouraging others to fight, I pledge.

• To honor every person's right to be safe, I pledge.

• To avoid giving mean looks or calling names or hurting feelings with mean tricks, mocking or laughing at others, I pledge.

• To not spread rumors, threaten or harass others by word or action, I pledge.

• To honor every creature or person's right to be safe, I pledge.

• To include all who want to join me or my group in a peaceful way, I pledge.

• To respect the property of others, I pledge.

• To be helpful when another has his feelings or reputation hurt and to be a good bystander when others are being bullied or teased, I pledge.

• To speak up to those who act mean toward others, I pledge.

• To do the right thing, get adult help, should such mean behavior continue, I pledge.

By my actions I will show tolerance for others who might appear different from me and by my actions I choose to make my world a kinder and happier place for all, this I pledge.

Adopted from the work of Clementine Barfield, Save Our Sons and Daughters
--
Lee & Betsy Paulet - Florida Songstory
www.floridasongstory.com
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.
…Cree Indian proverb

Now we have 3 weeks to restock and ready for Mother's Day Weekend Pow Wow in Dade City.  Will be relaxing and Creating in the Woods until we see you then!

Much Love and many prayers to all

AND please know that I DO Forgive you

Thundering Spirit Family Pow Wow

We are here in Mount Dora, Florida setting up for the Thundering Spirit Family Pow Wow This is Always a GREAT Pow wow with AWESOME entertainment.  Arvel Bird will be here along with Jackie Bird (No Relation LOL)  Oh ya and Ric Bird (also No Relation) and his Bird Chopper Drum.  There will be at least 4 Drums !! Yona and his boys will be drumming and of course our Local boys the Family Drum and some New Kids in town from Tennessee called Southern Echo.  I will do my best to get pics and videos, but with hubby being the Firekeeper here I will be busy in the shop (So stop in and say hello!)  That's Right, this pow wow has a Fire in the center of the Circle that is kept All Weekend Long!!  Please visit the website at the link above for all the details and directions on how to get here.

Trust me you don't want to Miss this one!!  See my you tube page for a video of a Night Intertribal dance from last year!! Lots of Dancers, Lots of entertainment, Lots of Drums, Lots of Artists, Traders, Vendors, Food, Storey tellers, Flutists, Primitive Encampments, Knapping Demonstations, TeePees, and Much Much More!

Auburndale Pow Wow for the Buffalo 2010

This year's Auburndale pow wow ran through 2 weekends.  The first of which was the coldest week Florida has seen since the 70's.  It was just plain frigid, we had sleet and snow on Saturday, but we kept the pow wow on.  People did actually come out and visit, they had the drum and dancers inside the Big Top tent the first weekend and only about 8 of us Hardy Vendors stayed open through the cold.  The second weekend was Beautiful and we pow wow'd as Normal.  Ken was working the pow wow, so I managed to get some pictures, but not a lot.  I also got some video of the Hawaiians doing their dances.  You can see the videos on my you tube here: http://www.youtube.com/Spiderwrulf

Guess who won a Powwows.com Shirt!! Hee hee, I got 8th place in the Scavenger Hunt.  Yikes, I know I have gained so much weight since I quit smoking (**Going on 3 years April 13**)  I am really not liking pictures of myself lately, but I thought it only fair since:

Gene doesn't like pictures of himself either and I knew I would post this pic   I think this is a Really Good pic of him, What do y'all think? 

The Aztec Dancers were there as well, I just love these native Peoples!!  There was some controversy about the Hawaiians and the Aztecs, some said that they are Not Native Americans and shouldn't be at the pow wow.  Well, categorizing them as Americans may be questionable, However they are Indigenous People (Native People) of their land, and therefore I feel they should be welcomed at the pow wows.  And while I am offering my opinion on such things, I might add that Some NDN's think they are the Only NDN's, and refuse to acknowledge any other tribes and ways.  I have no respect for people that think this way, cuz that is Not the NDN way.  That being said, on to sweeter words.

Of course there was much time spent with the Buffalo, which I think is the Best part of this pow wow.  I missed a chance to get a picture of Little Bear nose to nose with a Buffalo through the fence because I was in such awe when it happened! 

And in closing, it turned out to be a wonderful pow wow, as always.  We make of each situation what it is.   On January 15th, 2009 my "twin" crossed over and I never got to re-connect with her.  I have been wrestling with my emotions on this since I learned of it.  This weekend I danced in the circle for her and her family and children that she left behind, she was an EMT and as we honor Veterans of War, so should we remember the warriors at home that protect us; the Firemen, EMT, and Police. 

The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility. ~Proverbs 15:33

Auburndale ~ Pow wow for the Buffalo

The pow wow runs 2 weekends this year.  This first weekend was 20 Degrees F!!!  We have been to some Cold pow wows, but this is crazy for Floriduh!!!  But we Survived and Sunday was a Good Pow Wow and Next Weekend should be much warmer, of course a refrigerator is much warmer than what we went through this weekend, just don't think we could fit all those dancers in there.

During the week the Vendors will be opened from 4pm-8pm each evening and on Wednesday there will be a Media Blitz and dinner.  ***Any Dancers that can come for this would be Great.  They will have some drumming, Dancing and Exhibition by the Aztec's and Hawaiians.  The media will take photos and promote the pow wow for the coming weekend.  Then they will feed us!   It all starts around 6pm, so come on down for the Fun. 

In case anyone hasn't been here, we are at a Flea Market which has a Big Circus tent and a herd of Bison in the back.  Inside the circus tent Jim Sawgrass does his East meets West show and as I said there are Hawaiians and Aztecs that each do their dances.  You can see the Buffalo herd and some other animals they have here AND when you have seen the entire powwow, there is a Flea market to wander through!  So Come on down and spend the weekend with us. 

Come out and Pow wow with us!

Thanks and Praise to the Great Spirit for all that he provides us, for we are truly Blessed to be able to continue what we do.  Thanks to all who follow and enjoy this blog through the pow wow travels.  Thanks to Friends and Family for all the prayers that strengthen the circle of life for ALL.  Thanks to the Drummers and Singers which are the heartbeat of the pow wow, and Special Thanks to ALL Dancers and those who Dance for those who cannot. 

Barberville Pow wow at Pioneer Settlement

First Off, I would like to Praise the Great Spirit for all he provides.  We have been blessed to have 4 pow wows in a row in November and we are Very thankful for this.  Second ~ Apologies for taking so long to blog this pow wow, I had some difficulties with the Skycomp of late.

This was a first time pow wow and will be taking the place of the Deltona Pow Wow from here on.  The people at the Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts were very Accommodating and are excited to have us all come back again next year.  If you have not visited there, they have a Museum, Farm, Indian Village, Country Store, Guided Tours, Workshops, Exhibits, and Festivals.  Learn more about it here: http://www.pioneersettlement.org/home.html

 

Ric Bird and Bird Chopper were MC and Drum this weekend with a Guest appearance from The Plainsmen Drum.  The dancers came out in support and it was a good pow wow with potential to grow into something Big. 

It was good to see some of my favorite Warriors that I have not seen in a while.  As always we provide a service for the people and were able to help many people this weekend.  Again many Thanks to Creator for all that he provides.

We have one more pow wow after this in Gainesville, Florida and will be able to take a much needed Holiday in order to work on things and restock the shop for the run we have starting at the first of the year. 

Short but sweet, that's all I have for now... I am actually typing this at the next pow wow, so.... more to come soon from Gainesville. 

Don't forget to check out the pictures and I may even have a video that I will upload shortly.  Much Love and many prayers to all my Blogg followers, Have safe and happy Holidays.

//^@^\\wrulf

A Gathering of Eagles ~ Folkston Frontier Days.

Here we had an Awesome Growing Pow Wow/Frontier Days put on by a group of Bear Clan Creeks in conjunction with some Georgia Cherokees.  And I must stress that Growing is a GOOD thing, as the old man said "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still." 

The grounds were Very Camper friendly both primitive and self contained RV.  **Note: Hot Showers on property as well   The circle was surrounded by ALL 50 State Flags!!! When have you ever seen that?? Even at a Veterans Affair.  

Chi Meeker the Owner and grounds keeper here works very hard to educate and make a comfortable place to Gather as family.  He has made a tractor into a train to take the kids for rides around the property at a minimal fee.  You can see the Largest smile on the train is the kid running the Engine. 

 

The Drum is growing as well, they have many more songs to learn and have started working on a few more with help from Karl this weekend.   Thanks again Little Brother, and Thank you sooo much for 49in' wit me on the 5 gal Drum 

The pow wow was very good for the local community, many came out and many will continue to come out for this small Gathering put on by people that just want to share what they have with those who want to learn.  

I spent most of the weekend fixing things, making things, and working on the computer.  Cyndy & Nelson camped with us and they helped immensely - As Always!  I was rewarded with an awesome gift of Deer Skull /Antlers witch I proceeded to share with more family that can use them.  

So the pictures you will see are a mixture of pics Cyndy took with her cam and mine, and some I got to shoot when I did get out.  Just a really Great Feeling place, pow wow, and the Love made it all what we were there for.  

Then of course the Big reason we all gathered to help and support this year was that Sybille and Matt got married Saturday night!!

Ok, so when we first got their on Monday to help Chi get ready, the guys were splitting wood and helping with anything Chi needed.  Then we heard a cat crying?!?  Sybille showed up thursday night and spotted the cat atop a Tall Pine tree YIKES!!  We guessed it at about 45 feet up, Mary Kent's son is the one who used spikes and my Milwaukee Strap to scale the thin Timber and retrieve the cat!

Well, they also had Cowboy shoots in between the dancing.  This was definitely different, but the public liked it!  The entire set-up was really great looking and I would definitely recommend this pow wow if you are in that neck of the woods.  

On Saturday, Nelson & Cyndy went to Gainesville to support the Veterans Center one day event.  Those pics can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiderwrulf/sets/72157622687876329/

Heading Back to Floriduh now for 2 more pow wows

See y'all there