August 28 , 2006
Shingle Springs, CA - The 12th annual Big Time at the Shingle Springs Rancheria is always a big event, but this year it was vastly larger, with about twice as many people attending this year’s festivities. Approximately 4,000 visitors enjoyed the numerous native dance groups and musicians from California and other states who provided a weekend of free family fun.
“I have never seen this many people on the Rancheria before. It has to be a record,” said Big Time Committee chair Elaine Whitehurst, who is also a council member for the tribe. “Each year it gets bigger but we didn’t expect it to double in size from one year to the next.”
Newspaper advertisements, along with a prominent billboard on Highway 50 drew the crowds for the native festival held the last Saturday and Sunday in August. The family event is free to the public; drugs and alcohol are strictly prohibited.
The
history of the Big Time goes back thousands of years when the Native people of
the area gathered each summer for a harvest festival and a celebration of life.
Known now as Big Time, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians continues this
proud and sacred tradition.
The event featured Native American dancers and musicians
from California and a few from out of state. Traditional native foods, including
fry bread, were served and native games, including ‘hand
games’ were taught and played to the thousands who showed up throughout
the Big Time weekend. There were also Native arts and crafts, music, warrior
games and activities for children. This year’s event also featured a Bear
Dance, a time-honored spiritual dance and the very first public performance of
the Shingle Springs Rancheria’s own dance group, which performed traditional
Miwok/Maidu dances that were performed by the ancestors of the tribe for
thousands of years in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. Drawings were held
each hour and in addition to the scheduled activities, 68 vendors sold food,
jewelry, leather products, art, crafts, face painting, airbrush tattoos,
cosmetics, screen printing, signs, beadwork, t-shirts, cultural items, and much
more. The El Dorado Guide hosted a dunk tank and reports were that Chairman Nick
Fonseca himself was one of the “dunkees.”
Though Big Time shares some similarities with traditional Pow Wows, there are some distinct differences as well. During a Big Time, tribes would invite many other tribes to their celebration, which would sometimes go on for weeks. Traditionally, these celebrations were a time to reunite with relatives and old friends, and a chance to trade goods, dance, feast, play games and find a mate. Pow Wows, on the other hand, are usually dance contests with prizes being sought by participants.
“Everybody had a great time,” stated Fonseca. “Vendors were telling me they made twice as much this year as last. The people stayed as late as they could and the dance groups were just overwhelmed by the great crowds and the interest shown in their heritage.”
