>>Dr. Nelson: I think there are going to be
some folks who wonder just sort of what happens
during one of the ceremonies, and and you've
talked a couple times about the dances and
the songs. Could you tell us just a little
bit about those specific kinds of traditions
that you feel like folks ought to know?
>>Chief Comingdeer: The dance year, the dancing
season is is during the summer months. I've
heard it simply described as the growing season,
the time when the old crop, you know, could
grow, be harvested, and planted, and what
not, you know, between April and October.
You know, in those months there we dance,
and most most grounds are the same way. There's
a couple that that maybe dance all year long
or something, but most of them would follow
this sort of a similar pattern, summer dancing
only. Each meeting that we have here is is
specific for that time of the year, and that
there is certain things that have to be done,
like so many ballgames have to be played.
They meet and they talk and, you know, there's
been no tragedy amongst our community, like
a death or something or or even a pregnancy
can change what a man's job could be at the
ground. It's very dynamic, and some grounds
are even more dynamic than others and more
strict. It's such it's such a a broad subject
to talk about. It's it's hard to take a piece
of it out of its context and speak specifically
about one thing or the other, but I will say
that this is where our ballgames come from--stickball.
>>Dr. Nelson: Yeah, maybe you could tell us
a little bit about stickball.
>>Chief Comingdeer: We will start playing
stickball in the in the early spring, and
we will after we play so many games and have
met, you know, and assembled here, it sort
of qualifies us to open the ground up for
dancing. I would say that we we never can
just come out and build a fire and start dancing.
It would be a a we would have to go through
our procedure to work up to opening up the
ground for a dance. And then during that time
once once we started dancing, then each dance,
each dance meeting kind of has its own list
of rules. Maybe even who can cook the food
or something, you know, or or or how long
we have to fast before we dance, the men,
and the medicine that we use. Each one is
different for each dance. To prepare us for
that time of the year or for the cold winter
coming, we have medicine that prepares our
bodies so that we can withstand that cold
winter, and likewise we have medicine that
prepares us so that we can withstand the heat
of the summer. You see, that's how our bodies
are. We treat ourself to prepare.
>>Dr. Nelson: That's fascinating.
[Bird caws in the background.]
>>Chief Comingdeer: Everything has a meaning
with what time of the year it is.
>>Dr. Nelson: Right. It it sounds like you're
you're linking our bodies with what's happening
in in our natural world at the same time.
>>Chief Comingdeer: We are part of it. In
our belief, the fire and the way we care for
the square ground and the the whole tribal
town here, it is a part, it is our relationship
with our maker. That is how we acknowledge
that we are related to our maker.
