Tallykeeper’s Report:  November 7, 2010 – 2^nd Pow Wow

 In the early days of the harvest month, The Blazing Suns met at the tee pee of Big and Little Thunderbird for our 1^st tribe Pow Wow.  We started the meeting with some trading with the skins merchant. All the braves selected ceremonial hides to honorably represent the tribe.  The Pow-Wow was kicked off with 12 beats of the Tom Tom by Little Thunderbird. Chief Laughing Fox shared his wisdom on the rites, rituals and rewards of the Arapahoe Nation.  The virtues of wampum, feathers, and patches were also discussed.  The little braves selected a tribe name by the secret ballot of “wagging tail feathers”.  After decorating our name badges (and a lot of cookies) the Blazing Suns performed the closing ceremony and blazed a trail to their home tee pees.

But wait there’s more...

As the first fingers of Fall could be felt in the air, the Blazing Suns headed to the wilds of North Raleigh for the 1^st tribe camping trip.  After a tribe convoy from Cary, we arrived at the shores of the great Falls Lake.  The big braves learned patience while setting up the tents with the little braves “helping”.  Later, the little braves practiced “scaring the fish” with an impromptu rock throwing contest.  After some field games, it was time to start the fire and cook our feast.  Swooping Owl had help starting the fire thanks to Laughing Fox’s exploding incendiary devices.  Thunder Bear and Laughing Fox roasted “many pieces of the buffalo” for our feast and we ate and ate and ate.  After we devoured the buffalo, Black Hawk led us in a song about the man worked at the button factory.  After some silly string and swirling gauntlets of glow necklasses, everyone headed to a cold night sleeping on fluffy air mattresses.  In the morning we ate again….  But after breakfast we learned about air pressure and tension membranes when Silver Eagle launched his air rocket.  We should do that at every Pow Wow!  Later some braves fished, some braves hiked, and some braves danced in and out of all the tents, over and around the fire, and about the woods.  But eventually everyone returned to their home tee pees having earned their white feather and ready for the “walking of the coals” initiation ceremony at the Arapahoe Nation Fall Outing.