The 9th Annual Indigenous Peoples Days Start Today
Tribal Members Invite Community To Honor Indigenous History and Culture October 10 - October 13
Published on Oct 10, 2008 - 8:19:21 AM

By: Joan Buffington for Indigenous Peoples Days

Nevada City, CA Oct. 10, 2008 - An ancient Maidu riverside ceremony called "Calling Back the Salmon" and a new outdoor amphitheater are two of the highlights of the upcoming Indigenous Peoples Days.

For a ninth year, hundreds of native and non-native people are expected to gather in and around Nevada City, California on Friday, October 10th through Monday, October 13th, 2008. Members of the local Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe, and community supporters, invite people to come together to heal the wounds of the past and to celebrate indigenous culture.

Joining the celebration will be several native elders and a variety of tribal musicians and educators, including Native American Music Award winner Keith Secola and elder Fred 'Coyote' Downey. Also appearing will be two women's drum circles - April GoForth and Thoz Womenz. and the Feather River Singers, as well as the Shingle Springs Dancers and the Grass Valley Hula Dancers, and the Walker River Paiute Dancers.

Indigenous Peoples Days are hosted by the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe. Community supporters include: KVMR-FM, the South Yuba River Citizens League, the Sierra Fund, the Seventh Generation Fund, the Miners Foundry, the Nevada County Land Trust, Nevada County Indian Education, Native TANF, California State Parks, California Fish and Game, Shingle Springs Rancheria, United Advocates for Children and Families, and Briarpatch Community Coop.

Donations will be accepted at the door on Sunday and Monday. Suggested donation for dinner Monday will be $20, $5 for children and elders. Sunday and Monday will be broadcast live on KVMR Community Radio, 89.5 FM/105.1 FM, and online at kvmr.org.

The weekend is the major annual fundraiser for the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe. All participants are volunteers. The four day event is alcohol and drug free, and open to the public. To volunteer, contact Stephanie Lorenson at the Nevada County Land Trust, 530-272-5994. For more information, call the Tsi Akim Tribal office at 530-265-0711 or 274-7497. Or, go online to: www.indigenouspeoplesdays.org, or www.callingbackthesalmon.org.

SCHEDULE 2008

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10th: This year's event will open on Friday, October 10 at 6 PM with a ceremony to dedicate, to the Maidu people, a milling station (or grinding rock) Maidu ancestors. The opening ceremony will honor those ancestors and the culture that lives on.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11th: The day opens with the traditional sunrise ceremony near Parks Bar Bridge on the South Yuba River. Spirit Runners will then carry a speared salmon upstream to Bridgeport Crossing of the Yuba River, where an elder will perform the traditional renewal ceremony known as "Calling Back the Salmon," Before the arrival of the salmon, speakers will focus on the importance of salmon. Following the ceremony will be a feast of wild salmon.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12th: At MACC, the Maidu Active Cultural Center at Burton Park, 16200 Lake Vera Road, outside Nevada City, 11 AM to 6 PM, the public is invited to a day of celebration, with dancing drumming, food and healing. The public can explore a traditional Bark House, located on land that once was a Maidu village. Ethnic dancers and singers will perform in the woods at a new outdoor amphitheater.

Guests include: Rasa Em Movimento (Brasilian Capoeria), the Feather River Singers, and Maori and Samoan body workers. Wes Jim and the Paiute Dancers will offer songs of the Ghost Dance. Some guests will also be onstage Sunday and Monday.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13th: At the Miners Foundry, Nevada City, at 9:30 AM the public is invited to a day of discussion and celebration. From 9:30 AM to noon the focus will be on children's activities. Young people will hear storytelling, traditional singing and drumming. Teachers are asked to register for this morning.

From 12 noon to 5 PM, a series of panels will focus on key issues, including: the problem of "Mercury in Our Water, Our Land, and Our Bodies, ""Healing Soul Wounds" of the Gold Rush and beyond, and an Elders Circle. Onstage throughout the afternoon will be April GoForth and a women's drum circle, Thoz Womenz.

The annual he Richard Prout Memorial Dinner, dedicated to the late chair of the Todds Valley - Colfax Consolidated Tribe, begins at 5 PM at Miners Foundry. The feast of wild salmon, wild elk and buffalo stew, and other traditional foods closes the four day event.

BACKGROUND

Nine years ago in Nevada City, on what is known as Columbus Day, several local tribal members held a candlelight vigil to honor their ancestors. At the same time, at the KVMR Community Radio studio just blocks away, local radio volunteers organized a day to honor native people. The next year those native and non native people joined forces to produce what has become four full days of healing and celebration.

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