Laughing Birl's blanket

Crumbo Motors was going to be torn down and the old man was outside
standing there selling what was left, he hired a young Indian boy, he
was a Deal, Jasper Deal. He cleaned up the stalls and threw the trash
out. As the young boy was cleaning he reached into a corner of old
boxes and junk and found a stained blanket with holes, it looked like
an old time Navajo rug. He picked it up and threw it out with the rest
of the things but decided to take it home after the old man told him
it was ok if he kept it.

Old man Crumbo was a Potowattamie Indian from Oklahoma and had moved
out west to a small town and had his own garage, he had picked up the
rug years ago for ten dollars on a train trip to Albuquerque in 1930.
He put on the floor and it had taken a beating as it layed there all
those years with loose fringes, it was sort of brown with soft colors,
zig zag in design, it was of little worth, that Burnwater rug.


Jasper took it home and his mother washed it and put it across the bed
to keep his little sister's legs warm at night, her name was Karen,
but everyone called her Laughing Girl. She got used it taking it
everywhere with her and when she stood up she could wrap herself in
it. She was small and watched everything and everybody, and played
around the yard with her toys. They lived in Bakersfield, California.
That blanket covered her each night and she got used to it.


It was Fall and the family decided to go to the Navajo Nation Fair
back home and they packed up and left, staying with their grandma way
down there at Oak Springs.


They went to the carnival, and saw all the exhibits. The little girl
would get tired and her mother brought a small wagon for her to ride
and she took that blanket with her. They spent the whole day at the
pow wow and traditional song and dance and night fell upon them.
Laughing Girl was five years old and had heard her Shimasani-grandma
talking about learning to share and how all people, not just Navajos
have to do that to grow up the right way.


Laughing Girl sat quietly and watched at the Pow Wow as there was a
give away by a family of their most prized possessions, a dancers
rocker or roach as it is called, some buckskin leggings and shawls of
all kinds. It was a nice thing to see.


It was late and they decided to leave and it was getting cold.


A young mother came from Pinon, way over west of Chinle, to the Fair
with her boyfriend, who dropped her off and told her he would meet her
at the carnival in a little bit. Pinon Lady, she waited for him to
return, and after awhile she and the baby went and saw all the
exhibits by themselves. She saw some old friends from Chinle who held
the baby and talked to her about how she was doing. She told them she
was fine and that she was living in Pinon way out in the sticks; that
they were just there for the day.


As night fell the wind began to blow and it was a cold wind. Pinon
Lady had left somethings in the vehicle, thinking if they needed them
she would get them later. She was tired and sat by the entrance to the
Fair grounds waiting and looking for her boyfriend to come and get
her. She sat on a parking strip and tried not to notice the people
looking at her, saying to themselves why didn't she bring a coat or
something for her and the baby.


The little red wagon came by her and a little Laughing Girl watched
her as she was being pulled by her mother. There were a lot of Indian
people going home and the gate was full so they had to stand in a
crowd waiting for people to get through the gate. The wind had a chill
and the young mother stood up and tried to see over the crowd looking
for someone so she could catch a ride home.


The little red wagon got to the truck with a camper, and Laughing
Girls' family noticed that the blanket was gone.


It must have fell out. It was dark but they went back since they
thought the little girl would cry to lose it there. They went back to
the fair grounds and saw it. It was wrapped around Pinona Lady and her
baby sitting by the front gate. The family stopped and Laughing Girls'
father went to the woman sitting there and said, I think that blanket
belongs to us.


The woman with the baby, looked at him and then the little Laughing
Girl said in a quiet voice....It is ok, Daddy...I gave it away to
her....


The father looked at his little girl and she looked at him and said,
it is my give away...the baby needs it...it is cold...


The family stood around there and looked at the little girl...she
said, it is my give away like at the pow wow....grandma said we do
that at sings, they crawl on the hogan and throw things down the
people like and sometimes what they need.


The father looked at his little girl and then at the woman with the
blanket and the said to her....my little girl has given your baby a
gift I think...


Just then a person walked up and said, to Pinon Lady, Rita what are
you doing here? Do you need a ride or something? The young mother got
up and said, Yes, I think I do I am so glad to see you...she turned
around and gathered the things she had and took the blanket off to
give to the Laughing Girl.


The little girl said, you can cover him with it, it is a warm one...it
is his now...


So it was this way at the fair one night sometime ago...


rustywire