tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post8868652382959814071..comments2024-02-26T00:37:47.131-08:00Comments on Broomstick Chronicles: Big TimeBroomstick Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11217890674112142957noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-77151239274145704512010-08-08T19:58:58.726-07:002010-08-08T19:58:58.726-07:00Sounds like a good day, getting at least a little ...Sounds like a good day, getting at least a little bit of a feeling for a different world view as a guest.Chas S. Cliftonhttp://blog.chasclifton.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19158895.post-14228196321047001922010-07-31T09:12:48.522-07:002010-07-31T09:12:48.522-07:00It may be that these days Neo-Pagan seekers in Nor...It may be that these days Neo-Pagan seekers in Northern California are influenced--to the good for spirituality--by the revival of indigenous Native American groups and tribes. As, for instance, this festival that you describe with such enthusiasm. <br /><br />But I will add that, as a seeker who grew up in the SF Bay Area during the immediate post-WWII decades, there was scarcely a trace of living indigenous Native American presence to suggest any spiritual influence. <br /><br />And, even though the past Native American presence was, in school, at least, positively valued (yes, we learned about acorn gathering and marvelous basketry), the absence of Native Americans was passed over. And the brutal reasons for that absence--a rapacious American expansion during and after the Gold Rush on top of a Spanish/Mexican campaign to convert and enslave Native American tribes that could be taken over by the missions and ranchers--was more or less talked about as if it had happened on another planet. <br /><br />Interestingly, Californians memorialized the disrupted or extinguished Native American inhabitants in place names. Your home county--Marin--and mine--Solano--are named after Native American leaders who cooperated with the Spanish/Mexican settlement. But the sum total of indigenous Native American inluence on my youthful spiritual seeking pretty much amounted to the statue of Chief Solano in fron of the courthouse in Fairfield. <br />And that I learned how to pronunce "Tuolomne" and "Mokolumne." And my enduring delight at the beauty of the Carquinez (that is, Karkin tribe) Strait and the sight of Mt. Tamalpais in the distance.Pitch313http://pitch313.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com