The Eagle Dancers
Poetry Inspired by the Avery Collection

The Eagle Dancers
Pablita Velarde
Catalog No: 2000-186-228

The Eagle Dancers

I am a little girl
sitting and watching the Eagle Dancers dance.
Wishing one day I could dance
like all the people do.

I feel the dress
it feels so soft, I see the red
and brown in the dress. I hear the
sound of the dancers feet stomping
on the ground.

I am a little girl sitting and watching the
Eagle Dancers
dance all around.

Brandy Alvarez
Lawrence Intermediate School

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Eagle Dancers

In The Eagle Dancers I hear beating drums,
The drums remind me about Native tribes.
There’s a scented smell in the air
It smells like flowers in the summer breeze.
I taste wheat, mixed with corn and vegetables,
It also reminds me about my great grandma’s home
Cooking.

There are two native Indians dancing around,
They’re dressed in an eagle way figure.
They’re dancing around a bowl of fruits,
The fruits look fresh picked.
The ground is soft and warm.
It feels like cotton in a cotton field.

I hear voices around me,
It sounds like singing but I can’t understand it.
I think its Native, I don’t know,
Bells are ringing, loudly, I think they are sacrificing
Something.

The noise stopped, everything’s quiet,
I think they finished, wait there’s another
Drumming in the distance.
I’m in a different land, I don’t know where,
I think my journey has ended.
Everything’s quiet,
I’m back in my world now.

Celina Meyer
Hohokam Middle School

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The Eagle Dancers

The eagle dancers didn’t want to fly?
The eagle dancers’ tribe couldn’t believe why?
Was it because they couldn’t fly high? Or were they shy?
The eagle dancers said there was a father sun who just
Begun, and it was too bright.
The eagle dancers said they’ll fly at night.

The eagle dancers danced the night away.
The Santa Clara’s danced and sang with feathers and beads.
That were in their hair and sang.
The eagle dancers danced the night away.

The eagle dancers spread their wings.
The Santa Clara’s have seen eyes with excitement.
The sound of drums in the distance.
A soft playing flute that the flute man plays.

The Eagle dancer was quiet today.
The Eagle dancer’s partner passed away.
The Eagle dancer’s tribe was quiet.
Today was a sad day.

Stephanie Madrid
Hohokam Middle School

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The Eagle Dancer

The colors that I saw were brown, black, white, green and yellow.
I smelled watermelon, potatoes and corn.
I heard the sounds of drums making music.
The air tasted like fruit.
I was dancing with two women, but then I stopped dancing.
I ate all the food that was in the brown round basket.
I ate the watermelon whose skin was very green, like grass.
I ate the potatoes whose skin was brown like the earth.
I ate the ears of corn that were as yellow as sunshine.
It was a good dance.

Melissa Zepeda
Lawrence Intermediate School