Back on hallowed ground
At first glance, the land off Daily Store Road still looks a little barren.
But a tiny wooden village with several yet-to-be-finished structures shows the progress that the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation has made toward completing its vision.
“We look at this as a way to share our traditions and pass them along,” said Forest Hazel, a historian and researcher who serves as the tribe’s project director. “You can’t really complain about people being ignorant if you’re not willing to take a little time to educate them.”
The tribe’s first opportunity to showcase its 25-acre property, purchased in February 2004, comes this week.
After spending much of the past three decades in Hillsborough, the 23rd annual Occaneechi-Saponi Pow-Wow will take place at the tribe’s new land from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Patrons can participate in many of the same activities they enjoyed at the Hillsborough venue, like traditional dancing, music, food and arts and crafts. The highlight of the event, however, will be the unveiling of the tribe’s new recreated village.
Hazel said the new village, which aims to replicate how the tribe lived more than 300 years ago, is more authentic than the one in Hillsborough. They’ve used findings from recent excavations in the area to construct the village’s rectangular and round huts.
Just outside the village, there’s a garden that has food similar to what the tribe grew in the late 1600s — crops like corn, beans, squash and tobacco.
“Because this is our land, we can put a little more resources into it,” Hazel said.
A handful of tribe members will dress in native clothing and demonstrate things such as old methods for grinding corn or using a blow gun.
“It just takes you back years ago, to the good-old times,” said 83-year-old tribal member Elwood Whitmore.
All proceeds from the Pow-Wow go toward the Occaneechi Tribal Center Building Fund. Hazel said the tribal building is one of several future plans for the site. The group also hopes to:
–Move and remodel a 1940s-era log cabin that was used by sharecroppers. It was one of the few structures on the land when the tribe bought it.
–Build a 1840s-style cabin that tribal members of the day might have lived in.
“From a symbolic standpoint, this land is very important to us,” Hazel said. “It is something that every tribal member has a stake in.”
IF YOU GO
–What: 23rd annual Occaneechi-Saponi Pow-Wow
–When: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday
–Where: 4902 Daily Store Road, north of Mebane. Located one mile off N.C. 119
–Admission: $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and children under 12. For more information, call (919) 304-3723
Source:thetimesnews.com
For details information visit URL: http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/tribe_2841___article.html/village_land.html