You know, Pueblo reservation life is pretty amazing. Most people kind of focus on some negative aspects out there that's put out by modern society. But really growing up on the reservation, amongst community and celebrating our traditions and our customs is very spectacular because we get to celebrate a little bit of both. We get to celebrate the world at large, but more importantly, we celebrate that's which is traditional and cultural to us as individuals.

Our celebration and religious calendar is very different than mainstream America. Everything we do is is situated around prayer. The pottery that we make, it represents many things. For most, it's just something beautiful that you have and you own and it's decorative. To us it's got a functionality to it. It's utilitarian. It's religious. It's symbolic. And it's a testament of our, of our history and our tradition.

Our biggest feast day is June 13th, and we celebrate Saint Anthony. But then we switch over and we do corn dances, and we participate in Native traditions. And so from sunrise to sunset, we, we have ceremony. And so there's elements of it that are Catholic based, and there's elements that are Native tradition based.

We prepare for about a month to get ready for, for feast day. So people are out growing gourds and turning them into rattles. And you've got the women that are working, you know, seamstress, and they're getting everybody ready with their mantas and all of the dance attire. You've got our religious leaders getting everything that's necessary ready. So it's a busy time for our community and everybody has a different role. We start on the fourth. That's called La Salida de Los Santos, where four images of Saint Anthony go in the four directions of our waterways, and we spread the message that the feast is coming. And after that, there's a day where all the men go and we collect firewood. There's a day when there's bread baking. There's a day for bizcocho or cookie making. There's a day for, you know, just on and on and on. So it's a beautiful time. It's a busy time. It's a hard time. But it's a time where all of our community comes together.

And then everybody gets up really early and goes and, you know, to the to tusla to start for the day and watch the dances and hear the drum and, you know, do all the beautiful things that is so unique to us that does not exist in any other community.

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