So, today we decided to do some fun stuff together in Vail, AZ attending the Tohono O'odham Ha:sañ Bak Festival. *And* finding two letterboxes in the park and nearby ('Limestone' letterbox and 'Rincon Valley' letterbox). What a great day!
The Tohono O'odham are a Native American tribe who live in the Sonoran Desert and northwest Mexico. "Tohono O'odham" means "People of the Desert."
Ha:sañ Bak signals the beginning of the rainmaking ceremony. Ha:sañ is the O'odham word for saguaro cactus. Ha:sañ Bak means "the saguaro is ready." Before harvesting the first fruits, Tohono O'odham bless themselves with the saguaro fruit. The fruit is rubbed on the body near the heart. The fruit picker asks for a clear mind and a good heart before going out into the desert.
The saguaro fruits are called bahidaj. When ripe, the fruit opens to expose the sweet red meat and hundreds of tiny black seeds. Harvesters knock or pull the fruits off the tops of the tall saguaros. The Tohono O'odham place the first fruit picked on the ground with the red side facing the sun once the red meat of the bahidaj is removed. This signifies that the sun will draw up the moisture from the fruit into the sky, to make the clouds and the rain.
So, this fun festival held in the Posta Quemado Ranch at Colossal Cave, was all about celebrating the Saguaro! We were there to learn it's legends, lore, and natural history.
While there, we enjoyed Native O'odham dancers and we listened to traditional music (and participated, too!). There were also traditional basket-making demonstrations, and tastings of freshly-made saguaro syrup and fry bread!
The entrance to Colossal Cave Park and Posta Quemada Ranch.
A Tradional Eagle Dance.
The story behind this dance involves the process of growing up, just like a baby eagle does when it is finally old enough to fly out from the nest and start it's own adult life.
We felt very privileged to witness this particular dance and to learn more about the Native American way of life and their beliefs.
Afterwards a flute player performed. His music, recently performed in Wash. DC, was quite moving and beautiful.
Then all of the adults were invited to come forth and participate in making music. We were asked to release our inhibitions and to be more like children. Children, who haven't had years and years of society's expectations and criticism's, which causes most adults to lose their spontaneity. It was alot of fun standing up there and participating with others, just enjoying the entire experience.
Jeremiah decided to join me as he is such a fan of all music.
Our Native American Story Teller narrated a magical musical story journey, so that each of us played our instruments at a specific moment and then all together, sort of in waves, but all sounding quite smooth together.
I was tickled to be given a Rain stick. We have one at home and it was one of my favorite sounds. After our group's 'performance', we even received loud and happy applause. Fun!
Afterwards, we attended a fascinating talk on the Natural History of Saguaros.
(Have I mentioned before that we LOVE Saguaros?!). The talk covered the mating/fertilizing/propogation of saguaros, how/where they grow, their life-cycle, what species of animals depend on the saguaros and what animals assist Saguaros(doves/birds, bats). It was so interesting that we all sat transfixed for almost the entire 45 minute talk. The speaker even showed us a Saguaro that he grew from a seed 20 years ago! He also gave away Saguaro seeds and encouraged everyone to try growing saguaros at home. Great stuff today!
The Saguaro Fruit. Very, very sweet with hundreds of tiny seeds, similar to a strawberry's seeds. Yum!
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