Zuni festival puts focus on farming,
fun for all

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

ZUNI — From a tractor parade to a scarecrow contest and a fruit scramble to a waffle garden, the tradition of farming and gardening will be celebrated at a weekend festival in Zuni Pueblo.

The A:shiwi Doye:nakwe festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Zuni Middle School courtyard area. The fourth annual festival, whose name means “Zuni Farmers,” is being sponsored by the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center at Zuni Pueblo.

Curtis Quam, a museum technician and one of the celebration’s organizers, said the goal of the festival is to encourage more farming among the Zuni people.

“Farming, gardening is a very vital part of our ceremonial life,” he said. Traditional Zuni crops include various varieties of corn and squash, pumpkins, and beans, Quam said, and traditional growing methods included dry land farming, terraced gardens, some irrigation, and the use of highly water efficient “waffle gardens” with their grid-like design.

Quam estimated about half of Zuni families today have at least a small family garden, with many people returning to the tribe’s tradition of farming and gardening.

According to Quam, Saturday’s celebration will begin with a tractor parade at 10 a.m. The parade will begin west of the four-way stop in the heart of the pueblo and move east toward the middle school. Although the theme of the parade is farming and gardening, all participants are welcome, he said.

The festival’s events will follow at 11 a.m. The celebration will include a number of events like a scarecrow contest for the funniest or scariest scarecrow, a watermelon eating contest, a chile eating contest, gunny sack races, a fruit scramble, Zuni bingo using Zuni words and objects instead of numbers, and an olla jar water carrying race. A DJ will provide musical entertainment, and the Zuni Public School Dance Group will perform traditional social dances.

“We’re trying to make a lot of these activities very fun,” Quam said. Fresh produce will make up the prizes, he added.

However, the festival will not just feature fun and games. Organizers will have information booths, exhibits, and films about the tradition of Zuni farming and contemporary growing techniques.

Quam encouraged everyone interested in farming and gardening to attend the family-friendly, community celebration.

Information:
(505) 782-4403.