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Native Americans Will Mix with
Scots at 3rd Annual St. Louis Scottish Games & Cultural
Festival
ST. LOUIS, Mo. Bagpipes and kilts
will share the stage with traditional Native American flute playing,
storytelling, singing and dancing at the Third Annual St. Louis
Scottish Games on October 10 and 11 in Forest Park.
Archie and Ramona Mason, Native
Americans from Oklahoma, will perform and lecture on the ties
between American Indians and Scottish-Americans. Archie, a retiree
of the public school system and higher education in Oklahoma, is a
member of the Osage and Cherokee tribes, and belongs to the Gray
Horse District of the Osage. He has served on several U.S.
government commissions on Indian education and cultural affairs. He
resides in Tulsa with his wife, Ramona, who is a Muscogee Creek.
Both have ties to the infamous "Trail of Tears," which was led by an
Indian chief who was three-fourths Scottish and whose name was Ross.
"If you went through the formal
surnames of many Native Americans, you would probably find that they
are mostly Scottish names," said Diane McCullough, vice chairman of
St. Louis Scottish Games and a teacher in the St. Louis public
schools.
Of course, the Games will also
showcase more traditional Scottish entertainment, including Brian
McNeill. Described by The Scotsman magazine as "Scotland's
most meaningful contemporary songwriter," McNeill is head of
Scottish music at the Scottish Royal Academy of the Arts in Glasgow.
With supporting grants from the
Missouri Arts Council (a state agency) and the Regional Arts
Commission, the nonprofit Third Annual St. Louis Scottish Games and
Cultural Festival on Friday evening will also feature a torchlight
ceremony, the "calling of the Scottish clans," and a ceilidh ("kay-lee,"
a Scottish celebration with singing and dancing). Saturday's events
will include ancient Scottish athletic contests, bagpipe and
Highland dance competitions, musical and other performing artists,
Scottish history and storytelling, Scottish foods and crafts,
children's activities, sheepdog herding demonstrations, exhibits of
Highland cattle and the Clydesdale horse, birds of prey, and a
British car show.
For more information, call (314) 821-1286, or log
on to
www.stlouis-scottishgames.com
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