Chautauqua calls to mind ancestors

To the editor:

On Tuesday, Aug. 2, I drove to our Ya Ne Dah Ah Tribal School and saw lots of tents sitting on the big lawn. People were bustling about cleaning weeds off the rock garden we had built some 50 years ago.

Some of them were cooking up a storm in their outdoor kitchen, preparing for the potluck on Tuesday evening. They were called Chautauqua.

There was a trail behind our house we used to love to walk when we were young. It had grown over and was nearly impassable. These amazing performers rebuilt our old trail and we named it after my dad, the most wonderful man I ever knew. We call it the “Tiny Wade Trail.”

Chautauqua reminded me of my Ahtna Athabascan ancestors in that they came through our area, brought the sunshine, lifted everyone’s spirits with their amazing performances, cleaned up the forest and then they moved on, leaving our world a better place. Tsin’aen.

Patricia Wade

Palmer