Pieces not in place
With just 6 weeks to go, Ceremonial is behind schedule

Members of the San Juan Pueblo Dance Group perform for the crowds lining Historic Rt. 66 in downtown Gallup in this Aug. 11, 2007, file photo taken during the 86th Annual Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Staff Photo

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Independent correspondent

GALLUP — With less than six weeks to go before the start of this year’s Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial, things are still going slowly over at the Ceremonial office.

There is still no schedule of events posted on the Ceremonial’s Web site and a lot of the things that should have been nailed down by now — such as who will be judging the events at the arts and crafts competition — still have not been done.

Joe Tanner, vice president of the Ceremonial Board of Directors, said Tuesday that things are being done in preparation of this year’s event. Terri Frazier, who oversees the summer dance program for the city and the Gallup Chamber of Commerce, has stepped in to help run the Ceremonial office, replacing Gary Holtsoi, who has transferred over to the state’s visitor’s bureau in Manuelito.

Holtsoi’s position was paid for by the state, but that funding ended on June 30, and Frazier is volunteering her services, as is everyone else since state funding still has not come through for this year.

The Ceremonial Association is seeking $300,000 to help put on this year’s event and hire a director and an assistant to run the office for the next year. The state Legislature appropriated funds for the Ceremonial for this year but at the last minute Gov. Bill Richardson yanked it out, saying he wanted to see the Ceremonial get its financial act together.

To get Richardson’s support, the Ceremonial Association worked with the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments and drew up its first business plan.

Jeff Kiely, the senior planner for the COG office, said Wednesday that the governor’s office plans to review the plan next week. Ceremonial officials said they are still optimistic that some state funding will be provided for this year but how much it will be — and when will it come — in still up in the air.

While a lot of decisions are still apparently on hold because of that, including whether the event will start on a Wednesday or a Thursday, some decisions have been made in recent days.

Martin Link, who has been in charge of picking the “Living Treasure” that the association honors each year said this year’s honoree will be Lee Marmon, a Laguna photographer, who has been taking photos of Native culture in this area for more than 50 years.

Marmon, who is 83, is the first non-craftsmen to be honored by the association. The association has not given out awards for native photography although Link said the subject has come up at times over the years.

Marmon is probably best known for a photo he took in 1954 of an elderly Native man wearing a headband and Indian jewelry and a pair of tennis shoes on his feet. Titled “White Man’s Moccasins,” the photo was reprinted over and over again in the 1950s and appeared on many calendars.