Duckwater Community Projects August 1983-June 1985: Spring Festival

As part of my work in Duckwater I helped organize a Spring festival, and was part of putting together the first festival, which is still held today, although no longer in the early Spring.
As part of my work I put together a pow-wow type of festival each May.  It included a youth hand game tournament, community dances (Native American and country western) a community barbecue (the tribe would provide the beef which the barbecued in a pit in the ground) a chuck wagon breakfast, booths, games, including hand game and card playing areas.  It was really a fun time.  I especially enjoyed doing some round dance and listening to the drum.
The booths were nice.  One year we bought a couple small doll Shoshone cradle boards at a booth.  Also a beaded small hat.  Sheri purchased beaded moccasins which she wore for many years.
One of the problems of the festival was getting the booths set up, and getting electricity to them.  They were pole framed, with green branches placed over the top to provide shade.  The frames didn't come down, so they were available for the next year.  The electricity was provided by a long extension cord run from a nearby building.  The cord had to by run through a culvert.
 The second year it fell upon me to make a horse shoe throwing pit for a tournament.  Wayne Dick and I drove an old pickup to a place on the reservation where there was sand.  We got a pretty good load and filled in a couple areas to provide a good landing for the horseshoes.  I had to measure things four or five times to get the pits and stakes to where I thought it would work best.
We also had a pool tournament at the recreation center for the younger crowd
Many people helped.  Virginia Sanchez worked at the school, and she was instrumental with putting together the youth hand game tournament.  She and I co lead the organization.  Mary Lou Gomes and Kathy Millet also helped greatly.  These were my coworkers.  Jerry Millett was the tribal chairman.  Irwin Watson who worked for the tribe provided tremendous support with the barbecue pit and other tasks.  They had to watch the meat most of the night.  Mitchell Maes, Wayne Dick and Howard Thompson helped with setting up the shelters.  Of course others in the community helped as well.  The entire community helped with a pot luck and little tasks as needed.  The entire year I would sell candy and pop  from the office to make money for the event.

Duckwater: Spring Festival May 17-19, 1985

When I worked for the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, we decided to start holding a yearly festival.  Virginia Sanchez, Kathleen Graham and I particularly made it part of our job functions to put together the festival.  This was a big task, and involved lots of fund raising.  I kept soda and candy in a drawer at work for people to come and purchase for fund raising.  Virginia, who worked with the school focused on the youth activities, and Kathleen and I focused more on the adult activities. 
   The festival started with a traditional dance Friday night.  We had a big bonfire going and a couple people to play drums.  This included Danny Millett.  Danny Millett was a tribal elder.  He also had a wash board type board he would use to make the sound of a bear sharpening his claws for the bear dance.  The dancing included a couple of community wide round dances.  We could have had more energy, but we had a very fun time.
   Saturday was very busy of course.  It started with an early morning chuck wagon breakfast.  Sheri and I helped with the food.
   There had been several shelters constructed poles and pine boughs and people could set up under them to sell craft items, like a bazaar.

Danny and Lillian Millett

   We had several activities planned for Saturday.  The school put on the traditional youth hand game tournament.  The kids from Duckwater didn't do very well.  The school principle ran some children's games and gave out prizes.
   I put together, and participated in a horse shoe pitching tournament.  I did OK for a few rounds but really didn't last very long in the tourney.   We also organized arm wrestling and pool tournaments.  We were also going to do a ping pong tournament but there wasn't enough interest. 
   The big event of the day was the big pot luck and barbecue.  The tribe sponsored the meat which was a beef cooked under ground.  It was excellent.  Mitch Maes was in charge of the roasting of the meat. 
   After the meal we had a Western dance, while others continued to play hand game and card all night.  These were gambling games played by the adults.  Sheri and I enjoyed the dance for a while, but we retired early compared to most as festivities continued all night.
   There was a breakfast the next day, but Sheri and I didn't help with this. 
   Sunday we didn't have church until the afternoon to allow things to calm down, and for the festivities to be picked up.
    I wrote a paragraph in my journal at the time.  "The Spring Festival went very well and it wasn't too much of a pain as I thought it was going to be.  It was pretty fun in fact, except for breakfast which I was preparing by myself for a while."
Duckwater still has an annual event, although it is held later in the year.  May the weather can still be nippy in Duckwater.