#mtgilead

Mt. Tabor Freewill Baptist Church – Mt. Gilead, OH | January 2014

Back in 8th grade, my class went to Town Creek Indian Mound near Mt. Gilead, NC.  I remember having a great time, but I'm not really sure what we did there.  The only activity that stands out in my mind is that our history teacher let us throw a spear with an atlatl. 

So when Gordon and I found ourselves with a weekend in Salisbury with nothing but an airport pickup for my parents in our view, we decided to go to Town Creek Indian Mound.  Luckily, the site was hosting an American Indian Heritage Festival.  Gordon and I were excited to visit as the calendar description said this:

Help us celebrate the proud heritage and rich culture of America's first settlers.  An annual event with a "Pow Wow" atmosphere, includes dancers in colorful regalia, traditional drum and song, craft and food vendors.  Raffle drawings for dancers.  Admission:  $4 adults; $2 children 4-12yo; free for children under four, adults over 65, and active duty military. 

We've started really liking the non-interstate route and try to take the back roads as much as possible.  To get to Town Creek, it's nothing but back roads.  So after a long(ish) ride, we got to the site.  We were a little early, so the drummers and dancers were still getting ready.  

When the drummers started playing, an older man came up to Gordon and me and asked us what they were doing.  Besides the obvious answer of... drumming, I didn't know what to tell the guy.  When I told him I didn't know, our conversation went something like this:

Random guy: "Aren't you Native American?"

Me:  "No."

Random guy:  "You're not?"

Me:  "No."

Random guy:  "Oh, I thought you were because you're dark complected."

Me:  "No.  I'm Asian."

Random guy (to Gordon):  "Are you Asian too??"

Gordon: "No."

Yeah, that's pretty much how it goes down here in NC when people see me.  I guess (maybe?  kinda?  sorta?) I was asking for it by going to a Native American heritage festival and being... brown.  Whatever.  I still don't get why he'd think Gordon was Asian.  Have you *seen* Gordon?

After that, we just enjoyed the heritage festival.  Rick Bird was the MC, but you might know him as Ric Youngblood - the wrestler.  He and his family have a drumming/singing band called Bird Chopper.  They did a lot of cool dances, including inter-tribal dances where they invited spectators to join in.  It was fun to watch the candy dance where they let all the little kids dance with them and then when the music stopped, the kids had to scramble to pick up the candy off the ground.

The actual Indian Mound site was interesting as well.  They have a replica burial hut where you can walk in and see what the burial process was like for the Pee Dee tribe.  The mound, during its excavation, led archaeologists to 61 human burials and funerary objects.