87th Ceremonial opens
Preview night draws a big crowd

Rathika Ramadoss points out one of the items on display to her brother, Vivek, while viewing the arts and crafts on display Wednesday during preview night for the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial at Red Rock State Park. [photo by Jeffrey Jones — special for the Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — If preview night at Gallup’s Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial was any indication, a sizable number of tourists decided to add the Ceremonial to their summer travel plans.
In addition to the crowds of local residents on Wednesday evening, the exhibit hall at Red Rock Park was filled with visitors from across the country and around the world. Award-winning artwork was the main attraction, but the Ceremonial’s Indian dances, rodeos, and parades are also on most visitors’ agendas.

David and Linda Stout said they drove 2 1/2 days from their home in Columbus, N.J., to attend the Ceremonial. Although the couple had only been at the preview event for about 30 minutes, they had purchased several paintings and an art book, and they were planning more purchases.

In a trip that will mix “business and pleasure,” the Stouts said they will be looking to make purchases in Gallup and on the Navajo Nation for their Native American arts and crafts business. They first became interested in the Indian arts market in 2001, they explained, and began selling Native artwork at shows on the East Coast.

“We have a love and respect for it,” Linda Stout said of Native American art. Although they have visited the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Stouts said they prefer the more reasonable prices available in Gallup. Stout said she enjoys seeing the camaraderie between Native people of different tribes at the Ceremonial, and she looks forward to watching the Indian dance performances.

Nancy Brooks, of Washington, was another return visitor to the Ceremonial who was also introduced to Native American art on the East Coast. Years ago, she said, she met Bea Bowman, a Navajo woman who was selling handcrafted jewelry made by her mother. According to Brooks, she and Bowman became friends, which led to trips to the Southwest. During this week’s trip, Brooks brought along her friend Tato Joelson, also of Washington, and Joelson’s daughter, Helen, of New York.

“We’re here for female bonding,” joked Helen Joelson of her first trip to New Mexico. The trio said they were planning to take in an Indian dance performance, rodeo, and parade, and they also planned to shop at the Gallup Flea Market, eat breakfast at Earl’s, and enjoy a few cold beers and margaritas during their stay.

“I come because I feel it’s the real deal,” Brooks said of Gallup. In contrast to more touristy cities, Brooks complimented Gallup’s authenticity. “It’s a real town,” she said.

Although Devika and Chandar Sekaran didn’t come all the way from their home in India just to visit the Ceremonial, they were enjoying the preview night artwork. The couple is in the middle of an extended visit with their daughter and son-in-law, Lalli and Nathan Ramadoss of Gallup, and their two grandchildren.

Her parents plan to attend an Indian dance performance, rodeo, and parade, Lalli Ramadoss said. But because her family “grew up with a lot of cows” in India and her father was a farmer, her dad is most looking forward to attending the rodeo, she said.