Leather Projects

I have made other leather projects in the past but I have never been so personally involved as with my nutria bag. This was the first road kill that I followed through and made something out of it.

I am hoping to add projects as they are completed.

Mt. Tum Tum

I first heard of Mt. Tum Tum through a local flute circle here in Portland. We get together once a month to play Native style flutes. I decided that it would be worth checking out over the weekend. I didn't really know what to expect. As you can see here, most of the people at the gathering were camped by their cars in the field.

I have some pictures to try and give a good idea of what was going on.



Here is my camp. Yes, I know it looks like my tent is ready to come down. I was able to eat my lunch in the shade and try to stay cool.











Here are some of the vendor booths. Naturally, being and Indian encampment, there were lots of traditional crafts, bulk leather, drums, and jewry for sale.











There was a stage for performances. Here is a singing and drumming group. They would play for hour and deep into the night. I have no idea how they were able to sing that long without losing their voices.











This was an Aztec dance that was done on Saturday.












This is one of two booths of flutes. This one is the Stellar flutes and the other booth was the Quiet Bear flutes. I think this was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. Talking about and playing flutes. Dwight (Quiet Bear) live really close to where I am at so I am hoping to see him in action sometime in his workshop.







After a day or more of drumming, singing, shopping, and everything else that was going on, I really felt drown away from the camp. I made my way down some trails that I hoped let to a creek. When I did find it I was swept away by its beauty. I sat on a rock with my feet in the water for a long time just absorbing it all in.

Neighbors

I really need to carry my camera with me all the time because I have so many animals living near me. I have a family of birds living in the roof of my kitchen. The babies are so cute.

Here are just a few of the animals around me. I will keep adding pictures as I can.






















This plant lives just off the path were I come and go. I have really come to reliey on it for medicen. It is the biggest of the Plantain I have ever seen. Its location and its size brings to mind a very old wise elder watching over the field where the rest of his people are living. For those of you that would like to know what medice planains are good for here you go. Their leaves have very powerful drawing properties when made into a poltice. I have used the leaves whenever I get a scratch that starts to get infected.

Grass Mat

I have been wanting to do something with grass this summer because I live so close to a field full of it. I was really wanting to make lots of grass mats and take them to another location for a thatch hut I have been planning. Unfortunately, I was not able to cut and weave enough grass even for a full size mat. The process was very educational for me and I am glad I tried this project. I really think that grass is a great material with many applications. The pictures I have here are just of the first part of the mat. I will take a picture of the finished mat soon and post it. I have no idea if this weaving method was actually used by Natives for matting but it worked for me pretty well. If anyone has any input on making mats I would love to hear from you.