Appreciating Native American heritage

These are images from activities and crafts found Saturday at the second annual Native American Heritage Days observance at Garfield Park in Indianapolis. The photographs depict several shots from the dance and circle drum activity just outside the Art Center at the park.

The woman with the uplifted head (two photos below) stood out to me this day; she seemed very devoted to the heritage and wore an elegant, proud expression throughout the day. Her eyes were closed in meditative fashion quite often, so this wasn't an "oops, he caught her blinking" mistake.

In the third photo below, a woman assists a child who's confused (as was I) about the dollar bills someone or some people were tossing her way (you can see one of the greenbacks near the woman's right foot; the girl is looking right at it). I think they meant it as a gesture of gratitude, but I couldn't help but scratch my head wondering how that ever entered the Native American tradition.

The observance runs one more day -- Sunday, Aug. 29 -- from noon to 5 p.m.