July 30 Cortez, CO

The goal for our journey this summer was to explore around Colorado.  Almost a month and a half later, here we are!  Our first stop in Colorado.  We’ll spend a couple of days here and go up to see the Wetherall Mesa on Mesa Verde.  It’s another of those road-less-traveled places I’ve been wanting to check out.  Our first stop here, though, was to the Visitor Center, where we discovered that there’s a Cortez Cultural Center in town and there would be dancers there tonight, so we went to see the dancers.

Auntie dances for us and the little one follows behind.  She doesn’t know the steps yet, but she’s got the rhythm! Reggie explained the meaning of all the regalia, most of which has been in his family for generations.	This is the Catching Eagle Dance troupe from the Ute reservation just outside of Cortez.  The dad, Reggie Lopez, drums and sings while his three beautiful daughters and his granddaughter danced for us. This daughter does a challenge dance that her Auntie created during a pow-wow when a male dancer was just getting too full of himself, so she said, “I see your fancy dance and do you one better!”