This year’s Cowboy and Indian Days located in Casa Grande, Arizona sponsored by Ak-Chin Indian Community, was once again a huge success. The Saturday started out with a parade that included several different floats, groups and even political office holders showing up to delight the large crowd of people who had gathered there.
One of the highlights of the parade was the two groups of basket dancers who wound their way down Florence Blvd. of Casa Grande, which is only 25 miles away from Ak-Chin Indian Community. Several different representatives from tribes around Arizona were also in attendance, including Miss Tonohono O’odham and her attendants. Miss Wa:k Ceksan and Junior Miss Wa:k Ceksan were also in attendance, smiling and waving to the crowd.
The rodeo itself had a great turnout with the Honeycutt Rodeo Co. bringing out their finest stock for the event. The performance started out with the classic Indian rodeo event of the wild horse race, where teams scrambled to wrestle their wild horses, throw a saddle on them, and then ride around the arena to get to the other end first. There were two sections of bull riding, featuring Indian champion bull rider Julius Y. Begay.
Tie-down roping was followed by the exciting and fast-paced event of women’s breakaway, an event not seen at Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Pro Rodeos. The women square up in the box just as other ropers do, nod their head, rope their calf and stop their horses as fast as possible while a ribbon tied to their rope flies off of their saddle. It’s the fastest sport in rodeo with times clocking in at 3 and four seconds.
In the saddle bronc riding, the horses almost got the best of the cowboys, but Vince Tsosie managed to hang on to his wild bronc for a 66-point ride. Steer wresting, team roping, and barrel racing led up to the conclusion of the day with a second section of heart-stopping bull riding action.
Be sure to check out CLN’s exclusive video of this amazing event. Starring CLN Host, Michelle Crank and Ak-Chin Council member Delia Carlyle, who served as one of the Cowboy and Indian Days parade’s Grand Marshall.
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