Dion Wood & Dessie Busby had shirts to color

Duke got dunked!

It was a hot day for the Karuk Tribal Reunion at the Happy Camp River Park, but the activities and friends & neighbors who gathered made it all worthwhile.
The kids knew how to cool off and loved splashing down the waterslide. It didn’t appear to bother Duke Arwood when he got dunked in the Dunk Tank either. Sitting in the shade of the trees on the park lawn was great. That’s where we got to visit with all the friends and neighbors we hadn’t seen for a very long time!! John and Ruth Bain sent a post card from Europe with German Students, and here they were, back in Happy Camp!

There was an Olympic Competition for the youngsters. In the 3 to 5 year old category, Devin Rompon was able to kick the ball the farthest. Isabell Gomez kicked it almost as far and Natalia Sherman was third farthest. For the 50 Feet Dash those contestants varied it as Isabell Gomez came in first, Devin Rompon came in 2nd and Natalia Sherman was third for the bronze medal.
Results for 5 to 8 year olds in the 50 Yard Dash were Aliza Rompon first, Halayah Sherman 2nd and Julie Murray 3rd place. Aliza Rompon was also first for most jumping jacks within 3 minutes with 53 Jumping Jacks! Emily Mitchell was 2nd place. Halayah Sherman had 18 jumping jacks but she did 59 sit ups to win the first place in the most sit ups within 3 minutes. The 2nd place winner was Emily Mitchell with 28 sit ups and 3rd was Aliza Rompon.

When the 9-12 year olds competed, Hula Hoop Contest was won by Truly Jerila, and the 2nd place was Ryan Mollier and then Logan Mollier as they were the last three standing.. Alisha Jones came in first in the 100 yard dash, 2nd by Logan Mollier and 3rd Austin Bideler . Logan Mollier won first place in baseball throwing, followed by 2nd – Gavin Bideler and 3rd by Ryan Mollier.

The brave contestants for teenage category, were entered in the 3-Legged Race for 50 Yards! 1st place was won by Frankie Snider & Shaunice Polmateer. Kassie Polmateer and Gabby Ward came in second.. Other Competitors receiving ribbons included Jonny Court, Lucifer Alexander, Emily Mitchell, Marlene Juarez, Daisy Gomes, Alicia Jones, Kory Cenham, Trapper Busby, and Ryan Reed.

by Judy Bushy, Happy Camp. CA
It was a busy weekend in Happy Camp with the Krauk Tribal Reunion as well as the Klamath River Watershed Art & Music Festival.

It wasn’t required that one be Karuk to attend the reunion, only to vote in the election that was taking place at the same time. The thing I noticed most was how considerate they were to all. They served breakfast for those who got there early, without charge. They were offering everyone bottled water and asking them to be sure not to become dehydrated. Since temperatures had been in the triple digits the week before, Saturday didn’t seem all that hot. The consideration that they expressed was what one appreciated! They were also inviting all to the dinner at three o’clock. A welcoming attitude pervaded the day at the Reunion .

Susan Gehr had a large Karuk Dictionary that she was making available to those who wanted to play a little game. Eager youngsters enjoyed the game and even wanted to play again without the reward of another dictionary once they had earned one. It looks like a fascinating book and it is good to see all the enthusiasm from youngsters learning to speak Karuk. There was basketry going on both in the People’s Museum (where the language game was taking place also) and on the grass elsewhere. I noticed the addition of many photographs to the museum displays and hope to go back and look at them further another time. The Gift Shop in the People’s Museum was also a very busy place and had hats and t-shirts as well as their usual assortment of interesting wares for the event. They have such a good collection of books available and handmade note cards and so many things.

Dion Wood kindly invited me into the room where youngsters were decorating neat tote bags with stencils and markers. I didn’t get any art done due to taking photos of the beautiful children who were doing better art work than I could, but they offered a tote bag to carry all the literature, pens and color books that I’d collected. My kids always humored my having more coloring books than they did, but we always shared or copied a page they liked. Having child care business over twenty years, with CareAlot Child & Family Resources 1989-1991 made that more practical. Right behind that building you could hear gleeful sounds of children and on a hot day there was a long line at the waterslide. In fact, some bigger “kids” carried down little ones, and didn’t mind the splash in the cool water in the pool at the bottom at all!!! Then they could bounce in the bounce house until they were dry and slide down the water slide again!!! Great idea for a hot day.

The “techie’s” from the Tribe were cooking up hamburgers and cheeseburgers that looked delicious despite the jokes about keyboarding on the beautiful grill. The Happy Camp Community Computer Center had a booth as well. They have a lot of college classes available right in town here to help community members get an education! Eddie Davenport had a booth on the financial helps that are available to buy or remodel a home or to help a business. One area just for Tribal members were kits for emergency preparedness that were prepared for the elders and other members in case of flood, fire or catastrophe, but everyone was welcome to information on how to prepare for such an event. Here in Happy Camp we are accustomed to a week without electricity around New Years although we haven’t had one like the 1964 flood lately. This year the fires have so far been eighteen miles west of us but last year we were faced with the possibility of evacuation from wildfire. Being seventy five miles—long and winding road miles—from a hospital in the winter makes us more aware of needs to be prepared for handing some difficulties on our own before we are able to get to outside help.

The Health Tent had displays and information on all sorts of health issues and handouts of all sorts of helpful information. There was a beautiful horse painting being raffled off and opportunities for the youngsters to do their own art of horses. The Red Cross people were there with first aid information. You could learn your blood pressure or information on diabetes or other ailments. There was information on alcohol and other drugs. It seemed like there was information on any area of life that you wanted to become more aware of and healthy from dental to safety.

There were crafts and homemade jewelry and articles available for purchase of course. There was a raffle for everyone who came and registered as well as a raffle for a beautiful blue scooter, which received a lot of interest. Horseshoes, volleyball, and all sorts of games were available. Later on in the day there was music planned and after the Reunion many went over to enjoy performances of musicians at the Watershed Festival.