Chehaw Native American Festival an annual crowd favorite
Native Americans perform for crowd at Chehaw festival
By Gypsy Crow
ALBANY — Families and history lovers gathered from all over southwest Georgia Saturday at Chehaw to experience the festivities of the park’s annual Native American Festival.
Park visitors learned of the cultures of Cherokee, Cheyenne and Zuni tribes at the festival.
Visitors enjoyed performances by Native American musicians and dancers. In between ceremonial dances, stories were shared about Native American cultures. The event emcee explained how the tribes honor the Earth through dance. Guests were later invited into the circle to join hands and dance together with the performers.
During the performances, the audience cheered louder whenever the dancers and music picked up in intensity.
“The drums have always given me chills,” Jodi Pierce of Albany said. “The dancers brought me back to my childhood, and I’m so happy I could get to experience it again with my son.”
Vendors and exhibitors surrounded the perimeter of the staging area. Among the vendors were shops selling flutes, furs, Native American weaponry and jewelry. Crowds gathered around exhibitors who explained the history and cultural importance of different tribal tools and artifacts.
Jim Sawgrass, dressed head-to-toe in regalia, explained the different kinds of horn calls and used his hands to demonstrate several different rhythms for the observers. Buck Windsor’s tent showcased primitive cooking with different pieces of pottery on display. Scott Jones chipped away at pieces of flint at his primitive skills technology display.
“We have been coming out here for a very long time,” Angela Parr mused while she weaved a headband for a customer. A rack of traditionally woven scarves and belts hung next to her. She ran her needles through the spindle, and her hands moved through the thread quickly like harp strings.
Bear Brooks demonstrated his blow gun next to his southeastern weaponry tent. The blow gun was more than 5 feet long and spat out large darts into a target hanging from a nearby tree.
“I’ve been making these (weapons) for about 30 years now,” Brooks said.
The Native American Festival at Chehaw has long helped visitors connect with local history and with cultures that may seem lost to time but are very much still alive for the tribes who practice them today.
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