Hessi! Friends! The new date for the Oconee Homecoming Festival in Sparta, GA (Hancock County) is Friday June 18 and Saturday June 19. The County Commissioners Office originally called me earlier this week and said June 10 (which didn't make sense) I called back Friday to question the date and found out that it is the above. Sorry about that...I am not in charge of the festival - just working for them. The delay was caused by a delay in funding from the University of Georgia until after the new fiscal year began. The choice of that particular weekend had something to do with the moon and and the Summer Equinox, but I was not told the specifics. Some Creek traditions have been kept with the mixed heritage descendants there in the Oconee Valley. I remember that the elders in my mother's family on the nearby Savannah River always chose a weekend around June 20 for their family reunion. I now know that it was a rememberance of the traditions of Poskita...the Green Corn Festival. For those of you who have not heard...this is a "social" and "cultural" festival sponsored by the county government of Hancock County, GA. A large percentage of the county has at least some Oconee (Hitichi-speaking Eastern Creek), Muskogee (Lower Creek) or Yuchi heritage. The Oconee tribe formed the core of the Seminoles in Florida and also several Creek communities down there. The mother town of the Oconee was Ocute, which is in Hancock County. The last council of all the "civilized" tribes in the Southeast was held near the festival site. If you have any questions or want to register a booth, contact the County Commissioners office at 706-444-5746. All mikko's will be given seats of honor atop the talwamikko mound. Booths are free for members of state or federally recognized tribes. The officials of the festival are considering the established four Creek and one Yuchi tribes in northern Florida as being equivalent to being state recognized. We know that you are our brothers and sisters. The commissioners just do not want people who have no legitimate Native heritage passing themselves off as such. Richard (Mountain Lion)