Willsboro, NY

Volume XV

July 10, 2009

LEADING THEM ON

Tribes make a choice on who will lead them to victory on Indian Days.

     There was no baby kissing or handshaking, but tribal politicians were still trying their best to get elected into a tribal office for Indian Days. All tribes started out at the neutral location of Intermediate Point to hear how the evenings events would play out. “Welcome to the 105th annual Indian Days Elections,” yelled the white people, and a cheer went out through the crowd. After a brief description each tribe headed to their traditional spots to hold their tribal elections.

     There are eight officers for each of the five tribes and the positions are held in high regard, “it’s exciting and an honor to be nominated,” remarked Assistant Sachem to the Onondaga tribe, Sam. Winning Mohawk sachem, Emily, echoed that, “this is my last year where I can actually contribute. It’s really important to me to help lead my tribe during Indian Days.”

     Campers are nominated by their tribes to run for different offices and they may then either accept or decline the nomination. “It’s really a relief now that the election is over, because a lot of thinking goes into it before the night of the election,” shared winning Cayuga chief, Evan. “It’s nice to win, but much still awaits me in my job as Onondaga chief,” said Doug, “I firmly believe that we have a really good chance and I fully believe that if you think that you are going to win, then you will. It’s all mental.” Unfortunately Doug and his Dagas will have to wait to see if the power of positive thinking will help them to win Indian Days.

LEFT: Successful Senecas at Senior section.

CENTER: Mighty Mohawks choose their sachem.

RIGHT: Tuskies take care of business.

For a full list and photos of the tribal officers, please CLICK HERE.

LEFT: The “Great Spirits” watch over the tribes.

RIGHT: Mighty Onondaga chooses wisely.

BLACKLINE!!!!!

     Chaos ensued at the Pok-O-Plex recently when a group of Pioneers and Intermediate girls met to play a little Blackline. The girls outnumbered the boys, but the Pioneers definitely gave the girls a run for their money.

     “The game was kind of complicated, but it was also really fun,” remarked George, while Elizabeth thought, “the game was even more fun than I remember. The game is really exciting.”

     Perhaps the most exciting part of the game was the brother sister face off that took place. “Sam got me out during the first round, but I came back with a vengeance and got him out the next four rounds,” explained Daniela. Sam remained unaffected by being taken out by his sister and reported that his favorite part of the game “was getting my sister out in the first round.”

     The Pioneers did their best to hold their own against the Intermediate girls, but their valiant efforts were to no avail. In the end it was the Intermidiate girls that swept the Pioneer boys, winning all five rounds of Blackline. Sarah summed it up by saying, “we beat the Pioneers, because we are bigger, we are older, and there are more of us!” 

LEARNING THE ROPES

     One of the important things about camp is learning to work together and to be respectful of different people and their ideas. The oldest campers at camp, the CITs, ADV, and the Highlanders recently had a chance to actually put these abilities to the test. Campers visited the Low Ropes course, an obstacle course of sorts, and split into smaller teams to complete different challenges.

     “The course was hard, because we had to wait for everyone in our group to finish before we could continue on to the next element. If we left anyone behind it would affect our ability to finish that next obstacle,” explained second year CIT, Adina. Sam shared that he “thought it would be a lot easier than it looked, but I found out that was not the case.”

     As if walking on wobbly rope bridges, taking “Leaps of Faith,” and helping friends across wires wasn’t hard enough, the counselors made each group pick a person to do part of the course blindfolded. Each time the group got to a new section the blindfold came off and another member of the group took a shot at making it without their sense of sight. Second year ADV, Gabe, summed it up by saying that, “it was important for everyone in our group to take a turn at being blindfolded. That way you knew how everyone else felt when they were doing it. It definitely made me more aware of how necessary it was to support my team.”

CALLING ALL VISITORS

The four week Visitor’s Day is only a week away. Information has been mailed to families regarding this event.

You can also CLICK HERE to read the letter that was mailed out. We look forward to seeing you on Visitor’s Day, Saturday, July 18th!

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