End of School Ritual Hyrum Utah

 Tony is a graduating senior this year.  They had a community wide murder game with water guns.  Tony is a senior and was really disappointed when he got out in Chilis.  We thought you couldn't play inside businesses,  but we were wrong.

Water was a part of the end of school ritual in Hyrum where I grew up.  The last day was a big water fight throughout town as people made their way home, usually walking.  A water pistol was effective, but the best weapon was a surgical hose.  Those things could throw water a long ways.  I got hit by one once.

The othre normal riitual was Hyrum Dam for swimming or cliff jumping.  One year the water wasn't as high as usual and resulted in a couple back injuries.

My Biggest Regret:

Not purchasing the cradle board I had asked Sophie Allison to make for me.  Sophie and Irene were Native American women on the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation.  They were also faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I wasn't sure I had actually asked her to make one for me.  However I later got word that she had.  Sheri and I had moved to Roosevelt and I always hoped to get ahead enough to afford it; but we never did.  It wasn't until we had lived in California for a time that we finally started to catch up and have some breathing room financially.  I always had a sense that I had let her down.  I could have gotten it for $150 then.  They are worth much more than that now.  

Book Review: Jack Malotte

Jack Malotte by David B Walker, CEO, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada, 2019. 

I was exploring something and came across something that said the artist Jack Malotte is from Duckwater, Nevada.  After that I just had to see some of his work.  Sheri and I lived in Duckwater from 1983-1985.  Duckwater is a very small community with less than 200 residents.  The Art of Jack Malotte was on display at the Nevada Museum of Art from June 6-October 20 2019.  The museum put together a book of the display which included many works.  The book also includes a biography of Jack Malotte, and a chronology.  Common themes for Malotte are, a Native American man, whirlwinds, and activism.  He often has pictures of mountains, with feathers, birds, or jets flying above.  

He was active with the Dann sisters, Mary and Carrie.  They struggled the the BLM claiming that according to treaty the land still belonged to the Western Shoshone.  However the BLM claimed jurisdiction over the land and wanted to charge grazing fees.  The courts have granted millions of dollars for the land, which the Shoshone have not taken saying the land is not for sale.  It is gathering interest someplace.  The Dann sisters have since passed away but Malotte lent his supoort with artwork for their organization.

Other activist movements have included stop MX, stop nuclear testing on Shoshone land and protection of the environment.

In his history Malotte has lived many places, and his art.  There are many pictures of desert and mountain, in Nevada and Arizona.  One special painting I like is of Big Spring in Duckwater.  Many of the paintings remind my of the desert and mountains where I live now in Kingman.  

He formed a relationship with Virginia Sanchez of Duckwater which motivated him to move there in 1999.  I worked with Virginia Sanchez when I was in Duckwater.  During that time she and Kathy Graham Blackeye traveled to Europe to testify before the United Nations.  Virginia and Jack Malotte both have that activist spirit.

This art is incredible.  I would share it but I am sure it is copyrighted.  I did find a couple paintings on line, including the book cover and my favorite form the book.  This art is very intriguing and makes you think.  The book mentioned a mural at Duckwater school and I wanted to see this but couldn't find it