Sat. our friends John & Mary invited us to accompany them to the Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Arts in Phoenix to watch the National Hoop Dancing contest. Native Americans from all over the US & Canada were competing. the tradition of dancing with a hoop has an extensive history among Native people. The hoop or circle is symbolic to all Native people. It represents the Circle of Life and the continuous cycle of summer and winter, day & night, male & female. Some Native tribes us the hoop dance as part of a healing ceremony to restore balance and harmony in the world. This dance is not performed publicly. In the hoop dance the dancer manipulates their body through one to fifty hoops to the beat of drums and chants. They compete in age divisions ranging from tiny tot (5 and under) to seniors (40 plus). Pictures have been added to the web album.
The museum features an exeinsive collection of Kachina Dolls as well as Native arts such as basket weaving, silver smithing and much much more. It would be a place to spend a day sometime as we just saw a little bit of what was there.
The last couple of days has seen the weather warm up to what we had expected nearly 70 in the daytime and 40's at night. It sure seems nice to not be using the furnace all day long.
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