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26 Heather and Holly Branham My name is Heather Branham. I am thirteen years old this past March 8, 1997. I’m in the eighth grade. I have a seventeen-year-old brother, Shane. He is living in Nashville. He hopes to get a break into the country music field. He writes music and lyrics as well as plays the guitar. My parents are Roger Branham and Peggy Johns Branham. My maternal grandparents were Lewis and Bertie Johns. My paternal grandmother is Hattie Belle Branham Hamilton. I’ll let Holly introduce herself to you and then we’ll both talk. I am Holly Branham, cousin to Heather. Our dads are brothers and they married sisters.My parents are Ronnie and Eleanor Johns Branham.I have one sister named Edith Lucille. We call her Lu. She is a nurse at a Lynchburg, Virginia, hospital. Heather and I are only two weeks apart in age. Heather was born March 8, 1984, and I was born March 21, 1984. Our moms have told us of the trauma they endured growing up in Amherst County, Virginia. They were not allowed to attend the county public schools. The white people had public schools. The black people had public schools. The Indians had no school except the two-room log schoolhouse provided by the Episcopalian diocese. The white people insisted the Indians were black people.To the black people, the Indians were white people.The Indians themselves insisted they were Monacan Indians. My sister,Lu,had a rough time the first few weeks in nursing school in Lynchburg .It was mostly some of the instructors who were reluctant to accept Lu into the program. Mostly, it was no big deal. My fifth-grade teacher is really cool. A couple of times this year, she has in- 144 / Heather and Holly Branham vited me to dress in my regalia and demonstrate and also explain the meanings of various dance routines. My teacher is really into teaching on a broad scope.She understands this world is complex. The people are complex. This world of people needs reading, writing , and arithmetic skills; but they need much more scope. She has inspired me to enter the teaching profession. Heather, it’s your turn.What do you want to talk to the interviewer about? Thanks,Holly.GeorgeWhitewolf and Danny Gear have taught us a lot about organizing a powwow. It’s a teaching event. It’s also a lot of fun. Visitors come from far and wide. They learn to feel comfortable watching the dance performances .They learn the regalias, the painted faces and arms, and the loud beat of the drums are a performance. It is not a prelude to an attack. Visitors love the baskets and quilts. They enjoy tasting samples of foods they aren’t very familiar with. Visitors are intrigued when we explain the meaning of our dances.Our dances are a form of storytelling. Each and every dance has a different story to tell. My main dance involves my jingle dress. The dress is made with 365 metal cones sewed to the fabric. Each of the 365 cones presents a day of the year. The cones are shaped from empty snuff cans or tobacco can lids. The story is that a man’s daughter became seriously ill. The medicine men tried every Indian medicine known to them, all to no avail. One dark night, the little girl’s father tossed and turned upon his bed. Finally, he dozed off into a restless sleep. He dreamed. In the dream he saw a beautiful dress. The dress was covered with bright, shiny cones. The cones jingled against one another, making beautiful music as the dress swayed upon an ethereal form. The man awoke. He told his wife of his dream. He asked her to please make such a dress and dance in it at the bedside of their dying daughter. She made the dress that very day.As she danced beside her daughter’s bed that night, the beautiful, musical dress, embellished with 365 jingling cones, swayed upon the mother’s dancing form.The young girl heard the sounds of jingles. She sat up. She was healed. Holly, it’s your turn to share about your favorite dance. Thanks, Heather. My favorite dance is not as heartfelt as yours. My favorite dance is the General dance. For this dance, we invite the visitors to come forward and dance around the circle with us. Usually, it’s the youth...

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