The Gathering of Nations

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One Little
Two Little
Three Little Indians

Once I landed in New Mexico, I was very happy to see my best friend from college, Connie.
We headed out Saturday morning to the University of New Mexico's "The Pit", the sports stadium, where we spent most of the day watching the dance competitions and shopping for beautiful jewelry and native crafts. It was very hard taking the kind of photos I had planned on taking because it was incredibly crowded wherever we walked. The stadium was packed and there was standing room only! It was the most colorful gathering I had ever seen! There were thousands of American Indians from all over the states. Competitions were going on all day. From the tiny tot's to the elders, there was dancing, drumming and singing and later in the evening the competition for the Miss American Indian title. We stayed as long as we could, but after 11:30 p.m., we decided that was all we could handle for the day. I don't think the Indians had even gotten to the Hoop Dancers yet! But, like Connie said, "we are on Indian time", so they probably kept performing all night long.
It was frustrating trying to photograph a single dancer because it was sooo crowded! If I had a chance at a good shot, someone would walk right in front of me. This happened over and over, so i finally just went up into the stands and watched from far away.

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