Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT

2009 Big Valley Tule Boat Festival

2009 Big Valley Rancheria

Tule Boat Festival

Environmental Department at The Tule Boat Festival Photos - click on photo to enlarge

Arriving on the 2nd day of the fest-

ival, we were greeted by the Big

Valley Environmental Department

staff Anna Ravenwoode and

Sarah Ryan. We presented our

work on Lead Awareness which

included our displays and coloring

books. We also provided activity

books and bookmarks for the kids

and had some cutout displays for

everyone to take pictures with.

We had a wonderful time and met

a ton of tribal members from Big

Valley Rancheria, Pinoleville Ran-

cheria, Middletown Rancheria,

Robinson Rancheria, Scotts Valley

Rancheria and Elem Indian Colony.

Lead Awareness Photos

Photos - click on photo to enlarge

It has been almost a year since

we have been displaying our

photoboard for our Lead

Awareness Project. This is the

second time we have displayed

it at Big Valley Rancheria. The

kids were pretty excited to have

their pictures taken with 'Appi

and to help "Be Aware of Lead."

Thank You to all the kids and

adults who came by and had

their pictures taken to help

support our awareness project.

Baby Basket Photos

Photos - click on photo to enlarge

As a fun activity we decided to

create a more traditional themed

photoboard to help promote our

department and our activities. So

we came up with this baby basket

photoboard and we were suprised

how popular it was.

Many people came by and point-

ed and laughed and encouraged

each other to take their photos

in the baby basket. It gave us a

great opportunity to introduce

ourselves and share our depart-

ments work.

We were able to meet a lot of nice

folks and again we thank them all

for their support.

Tule Boat Races

Photos - click on photo to enlarge

Teams were encouraged to re-

member the importance of the

tule in Pomo culture. The Tule

Boat Festival is not just about

boat races. It is also about keep-

ing the art of tule boat making

alive and remembering and ap-

preciating the use of the tules

from times past.

Rules for the Tule Boat Festival

are as follows:

1 boat per team.

Teams must attend the

ELDERS PANEL on the first day

of the festival at the Clear Lake

State Park.

A Tribe can have more than

1 team but this year it was dis-

couraged because the density of

tules is low this year. Teams were

encouraged to bring their own

freshly cut tules.

Stick/homemade paddles

are ok while racing but all mat-

erials must be natural – no wood

planks allowed. Racers can also

paddle with their arms.

Races began at 10:30am

on the third day of the festival. The

catagories were:

Ages 6-8 boys

Ages 6-8 girls

Ages 9-12 boys

Ages 9-12 girls

e. Ages 13-17 boys

f. Men’s Race

g. Women’s Race

h. Team Relay Race

If teams did not have a team

member for each race, the team

will sait out for that particular race –

no borrowing people from another

team.

Youth must participate to

some degree in making the boats

if they planed to race. They are

encouraging that they learn the

art of tule boat making during

this event.

Big Valley Elder/instructors

went from team to team to offer

tips and assist boat builders.

At the end of the day there were

awards handed out and then

everyone was honored by a the youth shakehead dancers and then the adults

danced for everyone.

We thank Big Valley for being such great hosts and for the honor of asking us to participate in this years event. We have been invited back next year and we hope to get our own team together to join in on the fun.

Big Valley Rancheria Dancers

Photos - click on photo to enlarge

The Big Valley Rancheria

honored everyone by presenting

their shakehead dancers. It was

a great time to see so many

young people taking the time to

get out in the 90 plus degree

heat and dance for everyone.

We were all very honored and

were made to feel very welcomed

by the Big Valley people.