Letter: Santa Fe Indian Band Reunion planned

To the editor:

We are planning a reunion of the world famous Santa Fe Indian Band an all-Indian band Nov. 16-17 in Winslow, Ariz.

We will be honoring the former band members for the first time in 49 years. They will be featured in our 66th Annual City of Winslow Christmas Parade and we expect about 10,000 spectators and 70-100 entries this year for the parade. The parade is one of our communities State Centennial events. I am asking for your assistance in helping to promote the reunion, possible people to help record the oral histories of the surviving band members and to let people know we are looking for donations to be able to pay for Commemorative Santa Fe Indian Band Reunion shirts, memory book, meals and lodging for the event. I would love any support you may be able to provide and you are welcome to join us for the parade. You can stand on our corner of Arizona History.

The reunion itinerary is on Nov. 16, band members will arrive in Winslow and throughout the day. As they arrive we will present them with an agenda of the evening events and offer them a driving tour around Winslow to see some of the historic sites around town, a tour of the Winslow Old Trails Museum, First Street Railroad Park, Historic Lorenzo Hubbell Trading Post, and La Posada, the last of the Harvey Houses built in 1929-1930 by Mary Colter for the Santa Fe Railroad by a team of the Winslow Harvey Girls.

We will have dinner at DJ's Family Restaurant 4:45-6:30 p.m. with a reception in the Grand Ballroom of La Posada from 7-9:30 p.m. (AZ-MST) for a meet and greet, a proclamation by the Winslow City Council, declaring November as a part of the National Native American Heritage Month and Nov. 16-17, 2012 Winslow Santa Fe Indian Band Day followed by photographs and oral history recording.

On Nov. 17, we will provide a breakfast, the band members then will be able to venture around town visiting old friends and vendors set up for the parade. At 12:40 p.m. band members will assemble on the float honoring them. They will ride in the float for the parade. We anticipate a tribute band playing some of the historic marching band's music following the float for the parade route. After the parade we will present the band members with tokens of our communities appreciation and prepare a small memory book with a membership directory and photographs commemorating the first reunion.

We are also looking for assistance publicizing the event. Organizations who are non-profit that are assisting in presenting the Band is the Winslow Old Trails Museum, The Homolovi Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society, The Winslow Chamber of Commerce and the city of Winslow Historic Preservation Commission. I anticipate participation by the city of Winslow Arts Council and the Navajo County Library District. The La Posada Foundation LLC is providing facilities at no charge and the Winslow Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the parade. I hope to bring on more businesses and organizations Tribal organizations to make this first event a very productive and memorable event for all who participate and to enlighten those who may have never hear the band or of the band.

For more information on National Native American Heritage Month, visit http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/. This link has the small article on the band Vol. 1, Issue 7 (November 2011), which contained an article and two photos about the Santa Fe Indian Band at http://www.atsfrr.com/society/Western/index.htm.

Ken Evans

Winslow, Ariz.

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