2009 Programs And Events
Native Americans Perform, Educate at Festival of Cultures (05/02/2009)
Buffalo Big Mountain’s grandfather broke horses and performed Native American dances in the Wild West Shows of the early 20th Century. His father danced and taught Europeans about Indian heritage during overseas tours decades later.
Now, Big Mountain and his children are in Uzbekistan, where he is looking to teach another generation and another people about the history, culture and modern life as a Native American.
Big Mountain and his 4-year-old son Zander Kicking Horse performed two dances at the “Day of Culture, Traditions and Food” sponsored by the Government of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday. The diplomatic communities of many nations set up booths, offered their national foods and performed at the event in Tashkent.
The dance called simply “Traditional” shows a very old style of native dancing from the Southwestern United States, Big Mountain said. The second, called “Sneak Up,” portrayed warriors sneaking onto a battlefield to retrieve their wounded, followed by a chase and a victory dance when they escape the enemy.
Big Mountain, whose mother is from the Mohawk nation in New York State and whose father was a Comanche from the State of Texas, has been performing native dances since his childhood. For him and his children, it is both part of their heritage and a way of educating others about Native American culture, he said.
“It’s something I can pass down to my kids,” he said, adding that he welcomes his three children to dance with him whenever they want. “It’s part of their culture. I want the culture to not be something ‘different’ to them.”
Big Mountain and his family are in Uzbekistan because his wife, Mary Big Mountain, works at the U.S. Embassy as the head of the Office of Military Cooperation. While here, he plans to take every opportunity to perform and educate people about life as a Native American, he said.
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“This is the chance of a lifetime for me to represent my culture, to be a diplomat for America and for Native American culture,” he said. He is also looking forward to learning about the traditional dances and heritage of Uzbekistan, he said.
Carol Fajardo, the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy, said she appreciated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ hosting such an enjoyable event highlighting the cultures of many nations, and that she loved seeing how much interest people had in watching the dances and talking with Big Mountain.
The U.S. Embassy also had a booth featuring foods, photos, information and items highlighting American heritage.