This last year on the day before Christmas, Brad and I took a sunny (and cold!) walk up behind his parents’ property onto what is now the Grand Ronde Tribal Pow wow grounds. Pow wows in my childhood had always happened on the grounds nearer to where the medical center now is. I am not sure why they moved to this new spot, but it certainly is more lovely, tucked up against the hills and spotted with tiny creeks emptying into Agency Creek. I had driven past the new grounds, but never walked through, (and I haven’t been to a pow wow in at least 10 years).
Looking up, we saw this at the edge of the woods:
It looked like a giant bird house. Being a snoopy sort of person, and seeing not a soul around for miles, I ran up and hopped inside.
There I found a breath-taking place, a magical place, a place that spoke in a loud, clear voice right into my core.
The Grand Ronde Tribe opened their plankhouse in November of this last year to celebrate the anniversary of the restoration of the tribe, (maybe the only decent thing that happened under the Reagan administration).
You know how places sort of affect you physically? How some places could hold no evil or fear? How some places make you fly right out of your own brain and body and settle somewhere above yourself? That is how I felt about this building, about walking through this space. I tiptoed through it breathlessly, touching a support beam here, a massive wall there. The tribe has truly created a thing of beauty. Many blessings on all those who enter this gorgeous building to sing, dance and be together. It is the best place.
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Many years ago I was watching Oprah when she had Maya Angelou on, and Oprah was talking about Maya’s home and how it felt just like this, holy and good and peaceful. And Maya explained how she would not permit any of her guests to speak ill of anyone else, gossip, etc. She would actually tell people that they must leave parties if they were being negative, that they were polluting her home. It’s very interesting to me. I’ve been in homes that are the opposite, you can just feel that it’s got a bad energy and an unhappy home and family, so it makes sense that there could be such a restful, holy home, although unfortunately it’s much more rare. Of course it makes me sound so new-agey but who’s to say that we know everything there is to know about the power of the energy we put out into the world!
January 11th, 2010
So true. I too fear sounding New Agey, but my heart of hearts knows that we can feel the goodness of a place— and it takes goodness of people to make goodness in a place.
January 11th, 2010
I agree!
I am also realizing that I totally missed out on the whole Grand Ronde thing as a kid. I’ve never been to a pow-wow. Huh!
January 12th, 2010
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