Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Ghost Dancer & Shell Flower



Dear Readers,
In the lifeless sand of the Fallon feedlot, friendship blooms between two once-wild mares. I hope they're soon BFF on the wild range, but for now they have human names honoring the Paiute lands on which they were captured.
Shell Flower is the English translation of the Paiute name Thocmetony. I hope you'll do a bit of research and learn the story of the great woman for whom Ghost Dancer's pinto pal is named. I still want to write a book about the first (human) Shell Flower.
Hugs to you,
Terri


ALL PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE BY CAT KINDSFATHER

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:21 PM

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Comments: THey look so gracefull together. They're colors remind me of opposites yet whole. Sort of like "Yin and Yang" you know what i mean?

all the horsey best
HorseFeathers
  They look comfortable together, and very nice to look at too. Sweetness in the sadness. I like the names you have chosen for both of them.
Precious girls, deserve better. Let freedom ring!
Praying and visualizing!!!!
  Hi Terri and friends of Mustangs:

Is that Medicine Hat? he looks better although I can see one of his eyes is infected...good to see he is ok and has a new friend...

I researched The Shell Flower; I think the idea the American Indians named their girl children after names of flowers is aweseome;

to think they so close to Nature !
and yet white man did not see ! !

Sarah Winnemucca - Paiute Princess
By Tammy Scarbrough

Although she did not even know when she was born, Sarah Winnemucca came into this world somewhere around 1844. She was given the name Thocmetony by her tribe, which means "shell flower." Most of the girls in her Northern Paiute tribe were named after flowers. The ones who had flower names would dance together during their celebrations.

2 When Sarah was six years old, she went to California with some white people at the suggestion of her grandfather. Although she really did not want to go, she did enjoy things like chairs and beds. She was not used to having this type of furniture. Several years later, when Sarah was thirteen, she went to live with a soldier and his family in Nevada. It was not long before Sarah had learned five languages. She knew three different Indian languages, and she had learned English and Spanish.

3 Sarah's grandfather liked the white people, while her father, Chief Winnemucca, did not trust them. This was during a time when groups of white people would take over Indian land and force the Indians to live on reservations. In fact, many of the Northern Paiute were forced to live on the Pyramid Lake Reservation in Nevada, as well as reservations in Oregon and Washington.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
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