the Grandmothers

yesterday, my friend Deb & I went to beautiful Ithaca to see The Grandmothers speak (http://www.womensgathering.com/the_grandmothers). With all that wisdom, i had high hopes of enlightenment. not so much, though, i must say. maybe later in the week at other events. each Grandmother spoke for 5 minutes, and really....not a real lot was said. but ohhh...the faces! the eyes. the hands. there was one woman (a daughter of a grandmother) who i felt totally drawn to...couldn't take my eyes off her...there was such a beautiful spirit about her...and all at once she turned her head and stared right at me, as if she felt my eyes. i wasn't sure it was ME she was looking at - there were plenty of other people around, and i tend to think i'm invisible. but when she looked at me, the pure love that came across made me tear up and smile....and she smiled the biggest smile back. THAT'S how i knew. i nick-named her Keeper of the Kleenex...she seemed to have a never-ending supply of kleenex in her bag, and whenever someone onstage needed one, she'd haul out a handsome handful! Audrey Shenendoah (from our Onondagas) was invited, and she spoke briefly, welcoming the Grandmother's into her Nation's Territory. She thanked them for recognizing her, and inviting her to be there. She said, so often, people will come from other tribes into their Nation territory and never acknowledge them. That just put the whole thing about sovereignty and the different Nations into snap-perspective for me. having grown up in an area surrounded by 5 Nations, i tend to think, "oh - the Res." But in that moment it crystallized for me that these were a group of people who are a nation within a nation...oh...hard to explain. ok - what if neighbors from 2 streets away showed up and had a block party on our street because theirs was being paved? and didn't invite any of us? that's the simplest i can get it. my cousin-in-law is dating the Tadadaho (spiritual leader) of the Onondagas, and i was incredibly blessed to meet him at husband's granma's 97th birthday party a few weeks ago. so all this is very cool and circling some conclusion or point in my life. not sure what. i feel a ramble coming on, so i'll just shut up. speaking of grandmothers...diva is staying overnight again at Camp Grandma! i have the house to myself and fully intend to work on CrowWoman. i say "intend." we'll see ....enjoy the pictures! L.