I heard someone at work mention an Indian powwow that was happening this weekend. I've never been to one, so I thought I'd look it up. This was the 7th Annual Indian Powwow for The Friendship House in San Francisco. The Friendship House is actually a resource for rehabbing Native Americans who are alcoholic. So the powwow is held within the city. They block off a street for it. I managed to find a place to park a few blocks away and walked in - drawn by the sounds of drums and chanting.
It wasn't very crowded. There were booths lining both sides of about 1/3 of the street - selling jewelry, pottery, dream catchers, etc. In the middle of the block to one side, a parking lot or maybe a basketball court had been turned into an exhibition area - complete with wooden bleachers. Indoor/Outdoor green fake grass carpeting provided a place for the dancers. It was a little disconcerting being in the middle of a city, smelling like a city, and yet seeing and hearing American Indians in full regalia dancing and chanting. Their costumes were beautiful combinations of blues and oranges and greens and browns. Of course, there were feathered headbands, braids and moccasins. I got to watch a group of women and girls do a pretty shawl dance, and a group from South Dakota. The South Dakota group had a very hefty fellow dressed in feathered headdress and a feather bustle that he flipped up every now and then like turkey tail feathers. I must say the way he moved his head and body and feet reminded me very much of a turkey strutting and dancing. It was amazing! If you concentrated on the dancers, the drums, the flute, the chanting... you could almost transport yourself back in time. Almost. I didn't take any pictures of the powwow - as some of the info I'd read said that it could be disrespectful at the wrong time - some of the ceremonies were sacred. And I had no idea what was what - so I opted to leave the camera in the bag.
I only had enough change to pay to park for 1/2 an hour. So when that was up, I had to leave the Indians. So I headed over the Golden Gate Park to explore the California Academy of Sciences. They had a really great exhibit on climate change; an african safari exhibit; a small aquariaum; a planetarium (which I didn't go to see - the crowds were unbelievable!) -- but one of my favorites was the Rainforest exhibit. You start at the bottom and walk a circular ramp up to the treetops. They explain the different levels, what the climate is like, animals and creatures found there and how it benefits the areas around it. Butterflies were everywhere! They had 2 blue and gold macaws - busy squawking and chewing through some modern wooden toys on their modern square wooden play set. Other than that - no other birds were seen. I kept seeing signs for other birds and lots of chirping (which I think was a soundtrack), but no luck sighting any. The bottom of the rainforest (i.e. the flooded floor of the forest) was a pool with a bunch of great huge fish. They had a really neat room you could walk through underneath the floor on your way out of the exhibit to look up at the fish - which brilliantly led you into the aquarium. But before you left the exhibit you had to go through an exit room with lots of mirrors where they cautioned you to kindly check and brush off any butterflies that may have clung to you in the exhibit. Our group was butterfly free - so they let us go.
Also got to see a rather dull and sleepy Albino Alligator. I thought he was sleeping because it was cold in the museum. I think it only made it to 60 degrees today, cloudy and chilly. But someone said the rock he was sleeping on was heated. That made more sense then. By then, I could have used a warm rock to curl up on as well! I'd eaten lunch outside - which was a mistake as I'd forgotten my coat again. Honestly, it's August. How can you remember a coat? It's 100 degrees where I come from.
My other favorite at the museum was the living roof top. They'd planted California native grasses and wildflowers all over the roof top - among the solar panels. It's sort of a research station as well. The entire building was actually rebuilt in 2004 as a green building. It's insulated with used blue jean insulation; has solar panels for heating with automatic vents that open if it gets too hot (that I'd like to see. I've yet to really break a sweat here!); the structure underneath used recycled rebar and the concrete floors were mixed with recycled materials as well.
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