Throughout the weekend, I learned about the stories and symbols behind each GON event. From the Grass Dance of the Northern Plains, which was performed to flatten and control tall grasses for new campsites, to the dazzling and melodious Jingle Dress Dance adorned with cone-shaped bells repurposed from the tin lids of old tobacco canisters and sewn across beautiful dresses. Every style was a marker of cultural preservation and an act of exquisite storytelling.
I snapped well over 2100 photos and 300 4K videos, but I was still keenly aware that each shot was so much more than a relegated "nice composition". These were just small contributing pieces to a living and thriving history.
Capturing these moments wasn't just about "documenting" an event, either; it was about honoring the resilience of first nations peoples—cultures that have withstood centuries of adversity and subjugation, and yet continue to flourish in such dynamic, communal expressions.
IV. Gather What Is Precious
Later, as dusk settled in the Sandia valley and the thundering of the powwow drums slowly faded away to return my heartbeat unaccompanied, I found myself wandering outside—already feeling unmoored in the absence of the bells and drums—reflecting on what would become the title of this piece: Gather Ye Sunflowers While Ye May. It's clearly a nod to Robert Herrick's famous poem urging us to seize life's fleeting [rosebud] opportunities. Yet here, among resilient cultures that have stood tall and weathered centuries of storms, "sunflowers" feels more apt. Cherished in many Indigenous traditions for their dependability, sustenance, and beauty, these bold blossoms follow the sun's path across the sky, which is not unlike how indigenous communities draw strength from their heritage.
Standing on the edge of the fairgrounds, in that in-between light, I realized that bearing witness to these living stories was its own way of gathering what is precious before nightfall. And like the sunflower, we can all choose to turn toward the brightest light(s) in our lives that sustains us—our shared histories, the family and community ties that bind us, and the promise of continued legacies when a new dawn breaks.
