The Gallup Ceremonial

Gallup is essentially a railroad town. It was the Santa Fe's natural connection with the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni and also it was in the middle between Albuquerque and Barstow.  The Gallup Ceremonial was started in 1921. The general idea was to bring together as many as possible of the Indians of America and show their art work, customs, dances and all that could be shown of their culture.  One of its purposes is to foster sales of Indian products, and it has been very successful from that point of view. There is a large hall for the exhibits of the various arts, the painting, silverwork, pottery and weaving with places for each art to be shown in progress. There are prizes for the various catagories and to be a judge has always been a great honor.

 There is a large grand-stand and arena where the dances and ceremonies take place. Here also is where they hold the rodeo and horse-races. When it rains, almost everyone gets wet and the arena is a mud-bath, but usually the show goes on anyhow.

There is a parade every morning. All the Indians are in the parade. I remember in relatively "old" days, the Indians either walked, were on horses or they were in wagons. Then there were a few pick-ups and wagons with automobile wheels. Now there are very few wagons.  Of course, the traffic in Gallup during this time is horrendous. Immediately after the parade, it is impossible. Each year, there are conferences and meetings about this, and each year it is just as bad as last year. After all, if you put every car Detroit ever made in Gallup on the same day, things can get a little difficult.

My father had a rather large influence on the show, and his primary concern was with the quality and authenticity of the whole thing. It was quite natural for the participants to try to attract as much attention as possible, and this would incline them to bend the authenticity a little. Pop and his friends would constantly battle this inclination, and over the years, they had remarkable success. There were some, and as I remember it the Kiowas were the wildest, who were difficult to control. They were more inclined to play to the audience than to work for authenticity. But, by and large, it was and is a good exhibition.

 We went to most of the performances. Our parents would watch carefully each event. That is, as carefully as they could. They were constantly interupted by friends coming to greet them. Then after the show, they would talk about the quality of each event. They knew what they should be, because they had seen them done many times in the pueblos and on the Reservation.

Our mother was Chief Arranger and Hostess. Pop would want to have dinner with Martin Vigil and Kate, his wife. Mom would get on the phone and search all over Gallup and Window Rock and way stations to find them. Then she would make reservations for Martin and Kate, Pop and Mom and whatever Elkus offspring were around. We would arrive for dinner at the appointed hour, but no Martin. Lots of wondering: did he forget? Did the traffic hold him up? Did he get caught in a rainstorm someplace? Well, it always turned out, none of these things. He was just on Southwest time. About an hour late, he would show up, with Kate and Martin, Jr. and three friends. So we scurried about, getting more chairs, setting more places, maybe even getting a second table. Through all this, Pop was never upset. Everything would work out. And, due entirely to Mom's genius, it always did. This happened for all arrangements, lunch, dinner, parties, even breakfast was not wasted. And Mom made all the arrangements, and in addition, was the most charming hostess ever seen.

There were politics at the Ceremonial. There were large crowds and lots of outside money, and that is enough to make for politics. There came the traders, to be near a central point. Amongst the townspeople there was an understanding that the Ceremonial was good for all, but once in a while someone would want a slight advantage. It was the same with the Indians. So, our parents frequently found themselves trying to make compromises, attempting to repair damaged egos and generally trying to keep things going. Thus, Mom and Pop were of tremendous value to the people of the Ceremonial, although of course there were some wounds they could not heal.  One reason they were called in so often was that in some occult way, they stayed friends with everyone. This was, I believe, their outstanding characteristic. They dealt with everyone, they spoke no evil of anyone. They had great humor and great tolerance. Once in a while, upstairs after dinner, we would be sitting around, just the family, and Pop would tell us how this person or that was no good. But it happened very seldom, and even more seldom in his dealings outside.

 

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