Story by Amy Mathews Amos

Photographs by Jennifer Lee

In the weeks leading up to The Gathering, organizer René Locklear White called it “an experiment in humanity” and a “multi-cultural thanksgiving.” Her experiment included a gourd craft festival sponsored by the Virginia Lovers Gourd Society, a military color guard headed by the Native American Women Warriors, and a Harvest Dance with native dancers in regalia.  But at its core, The Gathering was about bringing people together – native and non-native – to celebrate “humanhood” as Locklear White’s co-organizer and husband Chris (Comeswithclouds) White put it.  “This is a little off the rails,” said Chris before the event.  “We don’t know what will come out of it.  It’s like planting a seed.”

On October 30 through November 1, that seed blossomed at the Clarke County, Va. fairgrounds.

Locklear White grew up in a Lumbee tribal community in North Carolina and recently retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force.  Now, as a member of her regional Council of Elders, she and her fellow leaders felt a calling to hold a traditional Harvest Dance (a Pow Wow-like event) in her current community of Clarke County as a way to bring people together. “There is a saying in the Indian community that we are all related,” she said. “Not just related through genes as humans, but through the elements of the earth.”

Judging by the diverse, multi-cultural crowd in the grandstand on The Gathering’s second day, many non-Indians agree.  Master of Ceremony Dennis Zotigh, a native storyteller and cultural advisor to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, took the opportunity to educate that crowd about Native American culture.  He answered questions from the audience — such as how many Americans self-identify as Indians (about 5.2 million in the 2010 census, or 1.7 percent of the U.S. population); and how Native Americans traditionally used gourds (as utensils, decorations, toys, water containers and more).  But he also asked the sea of white, brown and black faces around him a few questions of his own:  namely, where had they come from?  Not surprisingly, most visitors hailed from Virginia. Some had traveled from out of state.  Yet a handful came from overseas – including some from England, Brazil, Germany and Lithuania — drawn to The Gathering as part of their American travels to experience a real Native American Pow Wow.

And experience it they did.  Zotigh and his co-host, American Indian civil rights leader Dennis Banks, engaged the crowd throughout the day.  They encouraged everyone to participate, particularly in the “intertribal” dances, when the grandstand cleared as people streamed onto the field to join hands and dance together. When the military color guard led by the Native American Women Warriors organization paid special tribute to military veterans, Zotigh called for “all warriors – native or not” to enter the arena and be honored as defenders of freedom.  Although American Indians fought the U.S. military repeatedly over the centuries to defend their land from European settlers, Indians are very patriotic today according to Zotigh.  He called Indian veterans “defenders of our lands, our life, and our families.”

Throughout the day, four different drum circles took turns accompanying the dancers:  the Yellow Child Singers; Storm Boyz of Virginia; Thunderbird Métis Nation Drum, Singers and Dancers; and the Zotigh Singers of Albuquerque, N.M.  Native dancers in regalia from New York, North Carolina, Minnesota and elsewhere danced to the drum beats in multiple dance categories, including grass dance, men’s traditional, women’s traditional, jingle dress, and fancy shawl.  Zotigh emphasized how different tribes have different traditions, but come together to dance to the beat of the same drum at Pow Wows.

One of those dancers was Clifford Dumarce, a grass dancer in magnificent white regalia decorated with blue and orange beading and topped with a crown of red and brown feathers.  Dumarce grew up in the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota, but now lives in North Carolina after 13 years in the Marine Corps.  His Indian name is Walks into Battle (translated as zuya wicasta in his native language) and he was at The Gathering with his wife and two young daughters.  “We’ve been at a Pow Wow somewhere in the country every weekend since April,” said Dumarce.  One of his daughters was participating in the jingle dress dance and the other in the fancy shawl dance.  He came to The Gathering to “see a new place, see new people.”

Dancer A’lise Myers-Hall, a retired Air Force veteran and Shawnee and Lenape woman, viewed The Gathering as an opportunity to educate others about American Indian culture.  “We need to disavow what people see on television. We’re not John Wayne Indians,” she said.  She stressed the diversity among Native Americans and noted that “Pow Wows are one thing that brings us together.”  Myers-Hall epitomized that diversity herself, growing up in an immigrant community of Germans, Dutch, French, and Italians in eastern Pennsylvania.  Her grandfather was Jewish and to many, Myers-Hall would appear African American.  Her Indian name is Two Leaves Dancing, because she was born in November and as a tiny baby was mesmerized by the falling leaves.

Meanwhile, at the Gourd Festival in a nearby pavilion, Peruvian carver Percy Medina joined other artists to display his intricate designs of birds, fish and village life on elaborately decorated gourds.  Medina’s gourd art is on permanent display at the Infinity of Nations exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian.

And out at the food court, Lithuanian travelers Jurgita and Mende Timinskas waited in line for Three Sisters Stew, made with corn, beans and squash.  The Timinskas are spending several weeks traveling around the U.S. but were drawn to The Gathering because they enjoy Native American Pow Wows – they’ve been to several already in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Everyone at The Gathering  – Peruvian or Lithuanian, native or non-native, veteran or not — could come together in the “round dance.”  Zotigh and Banks encouraged the crowd to form a large circle in the arena and hold hands.  Then, led by head male dancer Tatanka Gibson  the circle collectively stepped to its left, moving continuously clockwise until it circled within itself like a spiral, forming new coils as Gibson kept the line flowing, allowing participants to view the smiling faces winding past them as they moved towards the center.  When it could close upon itself no further, Gibson masterfully turned the twisting spiral of humanity in the opposite direction, leading his inner layer outward and bringing the 125 person-long chain behind him, everyone swirling in a new direction, connected to one another physically and visually.

Banks – known for his iconic quote “it’s a good day to die,” during the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee, S.D. as he fought for Native American rights  — pronounced the sunny autumn celebration at The Gathering “a good day to live.”

On this day, at least, the experiment we call humanity was a success.

Dr. Burwell is back to treating those in need

By Victoria L. Kidd

Burwell, a graduate of Duke University in North Carolina and subsequently of Tufts New England School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts, is best known locally as the founder of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center (BRWC) in Boyce, but she has turned her attention to a new endeavor called Wildlife Veterinary Care (WVC). This new charitable corporation was formed to serve a similar purpose as the BRWC. She explains, “I formed WVC for the same reason I founded the BRWC 15 years ago: to provide specialized veterinary care for sick and injured wildlife.”

The WVC’s 501c3 status as a charitable organization was recently granted, but Burwell’s reputation in the community garnered significant support even before contributions became tax deductible. For Burwell, building the new enterprise is essentially like starting over, meaning these contributions are critical to operations and to the lives of the animals she treats.

No longer working out of the BRWC’s space, Burwell is serving patients out of her farm site and from the offices of Roseville Veterinary Clinic (rosevillevet.com). It’s changed the layout of her workweek from what she was used to previously, but it’s a structure with which she is familiar. “My days now are very similar to how they were when I started treating wildlife at my farm 15 years ago,” she says. “Dr. Tom Leahy of the Roseville Veterinary Clinic continues to generously let me use his vet clinics for radiographs and surgery. In addition to caring for the animals, my days are currently busy building new cages and acquiring the supplies I need to care for the sick and injured.”

Much of the needed supplies and equipment has been provided to her, but there is much still needed. Donors have provided kennels and supplementary supplies, while other contributors have made donations through a dedicated PayPal account included on the operation’s Facebook page. Burwell relays that the costs associated with this venture are understandably high, but the community has already demonstrated its support of the endeavor with early financial and in-kind donations.

That support is a validation for Burwell, both in terms of the community’s belief that wildlife care is important and in terms of the public’s understanding of her role as the most widely known wildlife ambassador in this region. Burwell’s separation from the BRWC—an event that came as a shock to many in the region—was not enough, it would seem, to slow her desire to serve the wildlife she so deeply cares about. Her focus has been renewed with her commitment to the WVC.

“My focus is on providing much needed veterinary care for injured and sick wildlife in this area. That has always been my focus. I intend to provide that care to rescued wildlife, to support wildlife rehabilitators and organizations with sick and injured wildlife, to educate the public through my webpage and Facebook page, and in the future, to train others to do the same.”

The fledgling operation has already provided that care to numerous animals, and many locals have reached out to Burwell directly for help (even before she had fully formed the vision behind her new endeavor). “As soon as the Facebook page went up, two people who had found injured owls contacted me through the page and were able to get the owls to me quickly so they could be helped,” she explains. “Today, I helped Frederick County Animal Control with a crow that had become tangled in kite string and then caught in a tree. I’ve been dealing with an outbreak of canine distemper on a farm where two sick raccoons and two sick skunks have been found. One of the sick skunks is improving while still undergoing treatment.”

These animals would have likely not survived or would have been left with long-term disabilities without Burwell’s actions. She asserts that it’s always been about the animals, and she is excited about the new organization.

“While it is hard to believe that I am no longer affiliated with the BRWC, an organization I founded on my farm 15 years ago, I am looking forward to providing care to wildlife through my new charity, WVC,” she says. “Providing care for wildlife and educating others about wildlife has been my life’s work, and it will continue to be my life’s work. I hope people will continue to support my efforts at Wildlife Veterinary Care.”

Burwell perceives her biggest challenge to be getting the word out about her new operations. For now, those who want to support these efforts or those who need to speak to someone about an animal in distress can reach out by phone or email at 540-664-9494 or belindadvm@gmail.com. To follow what is going on with the initiative, “like” them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Wildlife-Vet-Care-443042479213329/.

By Jess Clawson

When you walk into a restaurant and the chef asks what kind of day you’re having before she decides what she’d like to make for you or remembers how you take your coffee after just a couple of visits, you know you’re in a place purpose-built to make sure people feel like family.

Kim Ragland, owner of the Boyd’s Nest Family Restaurant in Berryville, is committed to ensuring that anyone who enters her restaurant has a meal they will love and feel like they are in her home kitchen. From the décor to the menu to her commitment to getting to know her community, Ragland works to make sure everyone is happy in her space. “I love that for many of our customers we are their home away from home,” she says.

The foundations of the Boyd’s Nest are deeply rooted in Ragland’s familial traditions. Her mother’s maiden name is Boyd, and her grandmother named their summer home in Marquette, MI, the Boyd’s Nest. “You could say it was always the most like home,” Ragland recalls, “and where I learned to cook.” Her grandmother would put a large pot of oatmeal on the stove every morning, inspiring the Nana’s Oatmeal dish on her breakfast menu.

Her decision to use the name for her restaurant was made easier when she realized that Clarke County High School’s mascot is the Eagles. She also carries a Seattle-based coffee called Boyd’s. The coincidence confirmed her impulse to name the restaurant after her childhood escape.

Ragland designed the menu to be inclusive: “I envisioned having a dining room with all kinds of different people in it and everyone could find something to eat that they could afford.” Furthermore, because she prepares almost all food from scratch, she knows exactly what goes into the food. It is important to Ragland that “people with food allergies feel safe at the Boyd’s Nest because we actually know what is in [the food] because we put it there.”

She has regular customers from as far away as Ashburn who appreciate that they can get a quality meal that suits any dietary restrictions they may have. Ragland’s commitment to inclusivity includes not restricting the kids’ menu to children. “We have several seniors who can’t eat a big meal and a kid’s portion is just the right size.”

Further, all of their ingredients are locally sourced whenever possible. The restaurant has a good relationship with Audley Farms, who supplies their beef. She and her husband have their own garden that supplies a lot of vegetables for their restaurant.

The Boyd’s Nest is not Ragland’s first foray into self-employment. She has worked for herself in the commercial food industry for most of her adult life, including developing flavor profiles for Costco in partnership with Monterey Pasta, which is carried at the Boyd’s Nest. She worked as a consultant for Sheraton Hotels for 16 years, which gave her experience in hospitality that serves her well in the restaurant.

Ragland also owns a catering business operating under the Boyd’s Nest name. She has strong relationships in Loudon County and does several annual events there, as well as catering in Clarke County. She cautions people not to be fooled by the size of her restaurant, which seats 30—the restaurant is not too small to handle any catering need. In fact, the building is large enough to accommodate all of her catering equipment. “We fed about 2000 people in two days at The Gathering,” she points out. “I have catered backyard weddings for 50 and formal plated events for 200.” She has a complete portable gas kitchen complete with fryer, oven, stove, burners, and holding hot and cold boxes. “You would be amazed where we have catered and who we have catered for,” she says.

She did not know anyone in Berryville when they opened the restaurant, but over the past three and a half years they have settled into stride and built a community of friends through her restaurant. “We have laughed and cried together,” Ragland says of her regulars. “We have buried loved ones together and celebrated births. We have been a part of weddings, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and funerals.” Overall, “Berryville has made me feel welcome and a part of the family.” Ragland has certainly returned the favor.