Help this urban Native American girl pursue her dreams of traveling, dancing, and sharing her culture with the WORLD!

in introduceyourself •  8 years ago  (edited)

Introduction

Hello steemers!! You like what I did up there in that pic?? "Add to dictionary" eh eh, well I thought it was clever ha. I am so excited to start using this new platform. I must say I am pretty new to this blogging-type format and my writing could use some help but I will do my best to make this an awesome account to follow. 

My name is Gabrielle George and most people call me Gabby. Ironically though I am more of a listener than a gabber when it comes to meeting people but who knows maybe steeming will allow me to open up more.  I am 25 years old and full blooded Navajo.

About Me...

I have not been too involved with writing in social media except for the usual post it and scroll through it social medias like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest. Although, I have been wanting to dip my toes into YouTube for quite some time making videos regarding make up, food, and vlogging my urban Navajo lifestyle. But never got around to doing it. 

So maybe this is where I will start with all that, Steemit. Why not try and make some money doing the things I love while at the same time enlightening the social media world and steemers with what Native Americans have to offer. There is so much to know and see within our culture that I hope I will get the opportunity to show you all.

One of the biggest cultural traditions alive today are called Pow Wows. Pow Wows are where many different Native American tribes come together to sing, dance, and listen to the drums and eat lots of food. Pow Wows are open to the public and anyone can participate. They are more commonly known within and all around the U.S. with multiple Pow Wows in many states. There are reservation Pow Wows, University Pow Wows, city Pow Wows, and even some are held at state fairs. There are so many to attend all throughout the year, indoor and outdoor. The biggest pow wow is held in Albuquerque, New Mexico with more than 500 different tribes coming together to celebrate the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow. It's a fascinating event that you can't miss out on and you have to experience it once in your life!! Even if that experience is through me and my Steemit account. 

But I must say this opportunity to be on Steemit is only possible because of my boyfriend, who got me involved in Steemit and opened up my world to cryptocurrency and everything surrounding it. If it wasn't for him I would not be able to share the things I want to share and promote my tribe and people. I am so glad to have him in my life.  

My Interests...

Joey

                

This is my dog Joey. He is half Jack Russell and half Chihuahua. Some people call his breed a Jack Chi or a Jackihuahua haha. I got him almost three years ago at our local humane society. He was just a pup at 10 weeks old but no one wanted him because he had a broken hind leg and the cost to care and fix it would be too much. But fortunately my boyfriends mining and investment in doge coin became profitable and we were able to afford my puppy and everything it cost to give him a great home. It's kinda funny how doge coin got me my dog. Having Joey is like having a kid and I am so grateful to have him in my life. He means so much to me. 

Make up


                          

                                                                   

Make up has been a favorite hobby of mine since I met my boyfriend. He showed me the abilities of YouTube in 2010 where I could watch all these tutorials on how to apply and play with make up. Ever since then I have only gotten better and more interested. I hope to explore more with special effects make up. I have applied for a job at our local amusement park as a make up artist for their upcoming Halloween season. Hopefully I get the job. Also to be able to show the make up viewers on Steemit the process behind it all would be really fun too. 

Iron Maiden

                           

This is my uncle Ellard and he introduced me to a pretty awesome band called Iron Maiden. He has taken me to four of their concerts, so far. Two in California, one in Colorado, and one in Utah. These two pictures above are both of us at a concert in Colorado and California. Anytime we hear they are in the states we do our best to get tickets. It is such a great experience to see these guys live and to spend time with my uncle. I am currently taking care of him now full time due to some of his health issues but we sure know how to have a good time. I am so glad to have him in my life. 

Food

                    

I really enjoy cooking and the whole process behind it. I learned to love food from my mom. She made the BEST food in the entire world. I know everyone says that about their mom but my mom was a full blooded ass kicking Navajo chef genius! She ran her Dorathea's Navajo Taco stand for more than 20 years at multiple Pow Wows perfecting her recipes and my brothers and sisters and I grew up helping her. She was more about quality over quantity and boy did her food taste amazing. It's not hard to make good food if you use fresh quality ingredients. That is the SECRET behind a great Navajo Taco. Everything from scratch, mostly. Can't go wrong with fresh food. I would love to write about some of her recipes and share with you the tips and tricks for making really good food. Unfortunately my mother passed away last year and I am no longer able to learn all that she knew. Hopefully with my Bachelors of Science degree, I just barely attained this summer, will help me further my education in learning about what food can offer and what I can offer. My degree emphasizes in Food Science, Business, and Sociology. I can only hope to pass on what I have learned from my mom and forever let her love shine through within her food. I know she would have been very proud of everything I have done and am doing. 

Pow Wows

These pictures were taken at Grand Entry. This is at the very beginning of a Pow Wow where all the dancers come into the arena to open the ceremony. There are many different types of dancers and the dancers displayed above are Men's Traditional dancers and the picture below the top picture are of Men's Fancy dancers and behind them are Women's Traditional dancers. There are different dances for both women and men. This can be further explained and shown in another post with many more beautiful pictures. Dancers come from all over the world but mostly all over the U.S. to attend these Pow Wows. Now a days Pow Wows are contest Pow Wows where dancers compete in their category for prize money. In the old days Pow Wows started off as a traditional ceremony for healing and celebration. To this day it is still known for healing and celebration but now they are are more funded and much bigger. In the bottom picture it displays me dancing the Jingle Dress dance in the blue dress. This dance originated from the Ojibwe Tribe and his known as a healing dance. I was brought into the circle in Pendleton, Oregon at their Pow Wow where I had my ceremony and Pow Wow special. This process allowed me to partake in the Pow Wow arena. 

My Goals...

To sum it all up, basically, this is who I am and what I live for. To be able to explore my interests and learn more about myself and my surroundings is all I can hope to accomplish throughout my life. My goal is to live life enjoying my hobbies, indulging in all kinds of food, traveling to see the world, learn more about my culture, and just making great memories with my dog, boyfriend, and family. This is an experience I hope to share with all of you. I want to help those that want to know more about make up. I want to share some recipes, native and possibly non native, that I have learned from my mother. And most importantly I want to share my culture and the life behind Pow Wows with the world. 

Also, it is very important for me to say that if I am successful I would like to give back to my people within the Navajo Nation in some way. I want to try and make some sort of difference and help with the poor conditions on our reservations. There is a major lack of fresh food accessibility and water resources on our reservations and many more problems. Through donations, charities, and food bank funding will there be a chance for change and hopefully an improvement in our economy. Please help me by up voting this post to gain the funds to make all these goals a reality. Thanks!! 

I am just a Navajo girl trying to make it in this social media world. Thanks for reading this and I cant wait to start talking with all of you and answering, to the best of MY knowledge, any questions you may have. Hopefully we can learn something together and gather more Native Americans into Steemit!!


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Welcome to steemit, Gabby!

Gabby, it is great to read your post! Yours is an amazing culture with a rich history, something I know you are very proud of! If you have any please post videos of the dances as well. It is amazing to see the regalia people design!! Good luck with everything and enjoy your wonderful life!

Thank you so much! It is such a beautiful culture and I am SO proud to have grown up within it. My mother made my regalia for my jingle dress. She was a very talented seamstress and an interesting thing is is that they are all unique. I will try and upload some videos. I am new to this so I will have to look up how to go about that. Do you have a link that could help me upload a video on here?

It is fairly easy to embed a video here. First you upload it to youtube and then simply use the URL exactly as you did the photos. It will automatically place the video for you... Yá’át’ééh

Great! I will definitely add some videos. Thank you. (Ahéhee')

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