Toppenish 4th of July Parade!

Being the Toppenish 4^th of July Parade was very special, mostly because I had gone to that Parade nearly half my life, and I always wanted to be in it. It’s one of the biggest events in the small town, and I was looking forward to participating in it. As we pulled up to the green lawn to park our car, horses, city floats, and random cars began to show up. I got the very special chance to mingle with Miss Granger and her court. My younger twin cousins showed up an hour later and we visited while dividing candy and arranging the shawls. Just a few minutes before the Parade started, a familiar van pulled up and out jumped Katrina Black Wolf, our Jr Miss Yakama Nation! We were pleasantly startled as she asked if she could join us in the Parade. I was just grateful to have someone to talk to during the long drive through town. So we readjusted the shawls and she climbed aboard.

Getting our smiles on!

All in all, it was really fun waving and smiling. It was also pretty good too that we were in it together as we were both representing the Yakama Nation. Our friends from the Powwow Committee were a few cars ahead of us, Ida and Starla Moses-Hyipeer. Their younger brother Cato, was Veteran’s Day Warrior and they had their own float. We all visited and chatted afterward. I was glad to have gone through that with Katrina, I’m really glad we get along.