‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Horsefly Swish
by Peter Molenaar Unlike the pensive almost melancholy feeling induced, for example, by a visit to my childhood fishing haunts, the annual tour of the “Great Minnesota Get Together” is for me always an invigorating adventure. Jersey cows, fine arts, tractor prices, eco-technology, countryside crafts and preserves”¦ Then, after lightly caressing the giant pumpkins in the horticulture display, the “Pioneer Heritage House” was spotted. So enter, please. In their combined effect the representative household objects of my not-so-distant ancestors evoked the suspension of time. And then, oddly juxtaposed to everything else, there it was””the horsefly swish. The creator of this “swish” lived in the glory days of the horse and buffalo culture. Crafted from half a horse”'s tail and an eight-inch shaft of polished pipestone, its original possessor was a distinguished and dignified hunter (Lakota warrior?). No doubt this object had [...]
