Sappony Capital Campaign for Tribal Center Maintenance

I am a member of the Sappony tribe. The Sappony, a tribe of about 850 members whose home community straddles the border between Person County, North Carolina, and Halifax County, Virginia, have owned the tribal center for almost ten years. When the tribe initially purchased the center, we had no idea how much it would mean to our community. It has served us well as a place to gather and a source of pride for the whole community. Our tribe is blessed to have the opportunity to own such an investment. As with any property, it must be maintained in order to hold its value. Now, after ten years of use by the community, Council, youth, members and others, it needs repair and maintenance.

With the exciting completion of Phase 1 of the Sappony Trading Path in partnership with the VA Department of Transportation that includes paving of the Tribal Center driveway, parking lot and creation of a beautiful 10 foot wide walking trail from the Tribal Center to Christie Circle Road, it is even more important to maintain the integrity of the buildings.

                

The Tribal Council has approved a capital campaign to help raise funds for necessary maintenance to the main building and garage.  This includes roof replacement, exterior log cleaning and sealing, exterior wood repairs and landscaping around the main building.  The costs are expected to be approximately $32,000. We will complete projects as we raise the money.

Please consider making a tax deductible donation toward this campaign and help spread the word! Every contribution counts and anyone can contribute!

You can give at this online secure site:

https://www.wepay.com/donations/tribal-center-preservation

On this site, you can make a one-time tax-deductible donation or spread your donation out as you choose. Just click on the Suggested Donation box or fill in your own amount.

or

You can also give by check if you prefer:

                       

Send to:                                   Make Checks payable to:

Sappony                                  High Plains Indians Inc./Sappony

Post Office Box 3265            Memo:  Capital Campaign

Roxboro, NC  27573

Please consider making a tax deductible donation toward this campaign and help spread the word! Every contribution counts and anyone can contribute!

Thank you for your support!

     

The Family Cookbook Project

If you are my son or daughter reading this, stop. I mean it. Close the browser window, navigate away. Seriously. Thank you.

Are they gone? Good. They would have spoiled their Christmas gifts. For the rest of you, I want to share my current obsession inspiration (which will ultimately culminate in said offspring's presents).

You know how we all have certain recipes in each of our families that are our old standbys, our favorites, our kids' favorites, or our specialties? And as we live as a family that body of recipes grows and solidifies. But those recipes are either in our (and only our) heads, or scattered among six or seven different cookbooks, or scribbled on a napkin shoved in one of those six or seven different recipe books.

I decided, now that my children are young adults, to create one recipe book that holds all our family favorites for them. I think this is a great gift for young people starting out on their own so they have directions right at their fingertips for making their mom's chicken salad, their grandmother's egg pancake, and the cake they delighted in making as little children. It also helps that my son, daughter and I have always cooked together a lot and experimented in the kitchen.

So my latest project has been compiling our old standby recipes from those six or seven different cookbooks and out of my head, typing them up, photographing the ones I can, and uploading them to a recipe book site in the coming months. There are a number of different sites that let you create your own recipe books, but I have decided I will use TasteBook. I like the professional look of their books, their chapter and table of contents organization, and that they come in expandable binders so you can add recipes. And you can upload your own photos. I love photographing food but have never seemed to actually photograph the food from our usual family dinners, so this will be a challenge for me. I'm always up for a challenge.

In working on this project, I have also been happy to note that it has renewed my pleasure in cooking which was in a cooking-for-one-slump (it is not nearly as much fun to cook for one as it is to cook for a family, or even for two).

I leave you with a gift of your own - a few of our favorite recipes. Enjoy!

Wheelie Ham Salad

We used to have this a lot when my children were little.

Leave time for salad to chill.

4 oz. dried wagon wheels pasta

4 oz. cooked lean ham, cut into bite size pieces

1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced

2 Tbs sliced green onion (optional)

1/3 bottled reduced-fat ranch salad dressing

2 Tbs plain low-fat yogurt

1 tsp dried basil, crushed

¾ cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

In a large sauce pan, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Rinse again. In a large bowl combine cooked pasta, ham, zucchini and, if desired, green onion.

For dressing, in a small bowl stir together salad dressing, yogurt and basil. Pour dressing over pasta mixture. Toss lightly to coat. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. Before serving, gently stir tomatoes into pasta mixture. 

Wafflewich

Wafflewiches

Makes 4 sandwiches

2 Tbs butter or margarine

4 Tbs honey mustard

8 waffles, such as Eggos, lightly toasted

½ lb. deli-sliced smoked ham

½ lb. deli-sliced baby Swiss cheese

¾ cup whole berry cranberry sauce

Lightly toast frozen waffles. In skillet, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Spread cranberry sauce generously on one side of 4 waffles. Top with 2 slices ham and 2 slices baby Swiss cheese. Spread honey mustard on one side of 4 waffles and turn that waffle onto the ham and cheese waffle to make the sandwich. Fry the assembled sandwiches in melted butter for a few minutes on each side until they are deeply golden in color and the cheese melts.

Teryn’s Thai Chicken Wraps

Teryn’s yummy specialty!

Makes 6 servings

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

3 Tbs soy sauce

3 Tbs water

2 Tbs cooking oil

1 tsp bottled minced garlic

6  8”-10” green, red, or plain flour tortillas

½ tsp garlic salt

¼ to ½ tsp pepper

12 oz. skinless boneless chicken breast strips for stir-frying

1 Tbs cooking oil

4 cups packaged shredded broccoli (broccoli slaw mix)

1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1.      For peanut sauce, in a small saucepan combine sugar, peanut butter, soy sauce, water and the 2 Tbs cooking oil and garlic. Heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. Set aside.

2.      Wrap tortillas in foil. Bake in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes or until heated and softened. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl combine garlic salt and pepper. Add chicken, tossing to coat evenly.

3.      In a large skillet heat the 1 Tbs oil. Cook and stir seasoned chicken in hot oil over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. Add broccoli, onion and ginger to skillet. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from heat.

4.      To assemble, spread each tortilla with about 1 Tbs of the peanut sauce. Top with chicken strips and vegetable mixture. Roll up each tortilla, securing with a wooden toothpick. Serve immediately with remaining sauce. 

Creativity Doesn't Happen In A Void

A few days ago, I read my newly arrived July/August issue of Native Peoples magazine. A particular article, Obsessions, made me contemplate and recognize some truths to my creativity. 


The author, Sandi Ault, is the author of four novels and has won numerous writing awards, so we know she is doing something right. Let me insert a disclaimer here: I have not read her books. I usually steer clear of any fiction with a western theme or Native Americans in it because they are almost all rife with stereotypes, usually written by non-Natives, and honestly they make me feel really weird and misunderstood. But again, I have not read her books.


That being said, Ault's article for Native Peoples, Obsessions, was particularly valuable to me as an artist/photographer/writer (in my 'free' time, aside from my paying job). The tag line for the article was, "Some prominent Native artists reveal their secret sidelines and ponder how their hobbies impact their art".  Ault interviewed nine Native artists and explains that aside from their art, " . . . they just might tell you about another part of their lives - their private passions where they seek balance in order to refill the creative well, passions that often become obsessions in their own right."


Shane Hendren, metalsmith, spoke about his horses and how they help him achieve emotional equilibrium in order to work his art.


Lisa Chavez-Thomas, pyro-engraver and woodworker, spoke of how both golfing and her art get her into that flow we all recognize, and how art ideas come to her while golfing.


Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, bead and quillworker, has a similar flow of ideas and understandings for her bead and quillwork while dancing in many powwows yearly. 


Kenneth Johnson, jeweler, Cody Sanderson, metalsmith/jeweler and Adrian Wall, sculptor, all use running as a counter point to their art. Running allows for the discipline, introspection and balance that fuels their creativity.


Jeweler Vernon Haskie finds ranching keeps him grounded and connected, which in turn, gives him the faith, spirituality and self-esteem that lets  him branch out in his art.


Potter Susan Folwell spoke of her love of gardening and how it clears her mind and is a place she can completely lose herself.


Estella Loretto, sculptor, has a passion for travel that inspires her art.   


Ault's conclusion for our take away: "Artists' other obsessions keep their lives in balance and their creative spark alive. Because creativity doesn't spring up in a void: It's an expression of the fullness of the artist's life."


Creativity doesn't spring up in a void. That phrase echoed in my head and reverberated in my heart. I have been struggling and pushing almost non-stop to get so many things crossed off my art 'to do' list (make this, make that, post here, tweet that, blog this, etc.), that I have felt trapped and stressed by my art instead of the inspired joy I know it can bring. 


I thank Ms. Ault for her eye-opening article, I thank Native Peoples for running it, and I thank each of the artists that shared their story. It has helped me understand that even in light of what I perceive as a time limitation for working my art after working my other full time job, I will make no true progress and frustrate myself in the process if I do not leave room for my 'other obsessions'.  I am missing the fullness. Cue the rest of my life.

Sun Bud by Kara Stewart, Art in Photography

And the bud opens.

Independence Day

Don't Give Away Your Power!


This week I found an amazing blog post, Rachelle Gardner's 7 Ways You Give Away Your Power - and How to Avoid It.  It is geared towards writing and publishing; however, as she points out, these same principals apply so well in other life situations too. Her post helped me tremendously this week and I have nothing more to add to it, but simply wanted to share it. Click on the link up there to her post and read it. You'll be glad you did.


Happy Independence Day, everyone.

Kara Stewart, Art in Photography

Haven

Sometimes we all need our safe place, our haven. Although I haven't been there in several years, this is where I imagine myself to be when life gets too chaotic, hurtful, unfair and too much to bear. I imagine myself to be in the peace of Star Island, New Hampshire, sitting on East Rock at dawn, feeling the wet, salty breeze of the North Atlantic ocean on my face, hearing the non-stop cries of the seagulls, and watching the sun rise over the waves. Or looking out the chapel windows, imagining the time when cows went through the turnstile to feed. Or rocking in the rocking chairs on the front porch of the Oceanic Hotel, lime rickey in hand. I try to conjure up the feelings of peace and respite, calm and centeredness when the 'slings and arrows' as they say, come my way, when I feel misunderstood. We all need a place of peace.

Early on Photographer's Row

Rowing

Sailboats

Star Island 2006

Sunrise Swirls Over Gosport Harbor

Sunset Reflection

The Edge of America

Tidal Pool Hermit Crab

Storm Coming

Sunrise in the Chapel

For more images of my haven, Star Island, please see my online photography gallery of Star Island. For more information about Star Island, please see starisland.org

Sunrise

Lethargy

I am seized with lethargy. On this gorgeous, low humidity, breezy, sunny day, it is all I can do this afternoon to curl up on the sofa with a book or three. If I were a cat or a dog, I'd be lying on the floor snoring in a sliver of sunshine.

I admit I got a few hours of work done this morning. But then . . . nothing. Why this lethargic malaise that has hit me like a cement mixer full of thick, wet cement gushed over me, seeping into every pore? Maybe a human has a limit to how much they can keep pushing. Maybe chronic worry and stress works like wet cement in your brain and body after a time. Maybe this slightly sore throat I'm trying to simultaneously deny and treat has a hand in it. I don't know.

Sleepy Puppy Labrador Retriever Greeting Cards by artinphotography
Shop for a greeting card on zazzle.com

All I know is that I feel like I can hardly move. And it has been months since the last time I curled up on the sofa and read some good books. Today I read some middle grades books I've been meaning to:  

I LOVE Avi's books

and

What super writing

And I enjoyed it. Wonderful writing both inspires me and makes me feel that all is right with the world. Maybe tomorrow I will have more energy.

My Samson - not a high energy dog. I'm at his pace today.

 

Sleeping Dogs French Bulldog Mousepad by artinphotography
Browse Dogs Mousepads

Then again, I DID just get a blog post written . . . 

Now back to the sofa with another book.