Labor day weekend
I read some of the reviews, and some people really need to lighten up about this place. One person complained that they had driven nearly two hours from Long Island to get here, and liked it, but were generally disappointed with many aspects. Others complained that it was run down and lacked the authentic "western" flavor.
Hey, this is New Jersey! Hello? Clearly, the Wild West days did not take place here.
What I will say is this: it is a fun place, especially for kids. My son absolutely loved Tombstone, and this paled by comparison. Still, he seemed to be able to completely lose himself in the fun, and he had a smile for most of the day. In fact, most of the kids there seemed to be having fun, and really, what more can you ask for?
That said, here are some warnings: this is touted as a museum village, but do not expect any serious kind of analysis of the old west. There will be mentions of more sobering history, of course, here and there. But mostly, this felt like a museum of stereotypes about the old, Wild West, with a movie and/or old television set kind of a feel to it. What I am trying to say is that the emphasis here was on simple fun, and not serious history. This was one of the major differences that stood out to me regarding Tombstone and this place. In Tombstone, where a lot of these historical events of the Wild West actually took place, the history was much more prominent, with extensive features on many of the personalities, including the local Native American legends, including Geronimo and Cochise.
After all, Tombstone would not be free to have the kind of lighthearted, slapstick humor that this place does, because it would detract from the legitimacy of the place. Surely, some people come to that region in order to seriously study some of those who took part in the struggle. And the fact that there were so many struggles in such a relatively small place, that so much drama was packed into a relatively small place, and in a relatively short period of time, makes a place like Tombstone alive with history.
Now, don’t get me wrong: there were cartoonish and exploitative aspects to Tombstone’s “Wild West” kind of theme park. However, this was just kind of the run-off, if you will, from the traditional mythology from the Wild West, while the place in suburban Jersey known as “Wild West City” seems to rely on that very mythology for subsistence, and thus needs to capitalize on it.
Also, the geography is vastly different. Tombstone is in the middle of the desert, near the border with Mexico. “Wild West City” is in as lush greed woodland. It is a nice setting, and just about as rural in feel as you are apt to find in the Garden State. However, there are no towering mountains off in the distance, and clearly, there is no desert, or dramatic red cliffs, to be seen anywhere. That said, again, the rural setting – it really does feel like you are in the middle of the woods somewhere – enhances, if anything, the legitimacy of this place.
Indeed, this Wild West City experience relies far more heavily on a lighthearted, rather goofy interpretation of the stereotypes and clichés of the Wild West, but that does not mean it is without any real learning or experiencing value. For the first time in his life, my son touched a horse, and we could smell the countryside, and the beasts of this small museum city, along with it. And I chose this weekend specifically, also, because it promised Native American dancing.
Admittedly, I was expecting more Native Americans, something more like a Pow Wow, I guess. My parents used to take my brother and I to Pow Wows every now and then when we were younger, and you learned about the otherwise largely invisible presence of Native Americans in New Jersey.
Come to think of it, that is also one of the major differences not only between Tombstone and Wild West City, but also between Arizona, and numerous other western states, and many eastern states like New Jersey. The presence of Native American culture is everywhere in places like Arizona. You see artistic designs and clothing and goods, and just varying physical and highly visible reminders of those who lived here before out west. In Flagstaff, we saw the stone ruins of the ancients, and of course, we visited the most famous old Native American site within the United States when we visited Mesa Verde, the oldest surviving human habitat within the United States, within the cliffs of Ute Mountain in the Rockies of southwestern Colorado. There just is nothing so obvious and undeniable to compare with that in New Jersey, or indeed anywhere in the northeastern states, and thus you really have to search for things, like Pow Wows or places like this that offer Native American dancing, to find any real traces of Native American culture here.
That is why I sought out the Native American dancing, and it was well worth it! Frankly, to me, it was easily the highlight of our visit! There were only three of them, all from the same family – the main guy, his sister, and her daughter. And only the guy spoke, but he had some informative tips for everyone. He let us know that they were Mohawks, who are part of the larger Iroquois nation. They used to be relegated only to a reservation that was three square miles in size, but now, they have eight reservations scattered through southern Canada and northern New York state. He taught us that the traditional greeting portrayal of Native Americans raising their right hand in an almost wave and saying, “How” was predictably wrong. Native Americans would indeed raise their right hand, but he reminded us that they would then address their greeting in their own language, and there were well over one hundred separate languages that Native Americans spoke throughout the continent! He even taught us how to greet in three of the different languages – in Mohawk, and in Seminole. I even remember that the Mohawk greeting sounded like “Say Go.” Apparently, raising the right hand in this manner was to show peaceful intentions, a way of saying that you were unarmed. However, he said that if the left hand goes up, then watch out!
He talked about the five nations of the Iroquois – the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, and mentioned also that Mohawks were known as Guardians or Keeper of the Eastern Door, as they come from the easternmost point among the Iroquois. The Seneca, who lived around where Buffalo and western New York state presently are, were known as Guardians or Keepers of the Western Door.
They had put up three tee pees, and he explained the simplicity and efficiency of them to us. Two of them had their entrance doors closed, and these were the two that they themselves were sleeping in during their stay at Wild West City. He said that whenever you saw the doors closed, that was a way of saying do not enter. You can approach the teepee and announce yourself, but if the door was not then opened to you, it was respectful to then leave the immediate premises of where the teepee stood, and leave the occupants in their privacy. He suggested that it was much like our homes, where we do not announce ourselves to neighbors by opening the door and walking right in, and said that this was a universal rule for anywhere and everywhere in North America where you might run into a teepee. He also explained that there were flaps on the top of the teepee that allowed ventilation for smoke, which allowed teepees to be the only kinds of tents where you could have a fire inside. However, you could also close the flaps in the event of inclimate or raining weather, so that the occupants inside could remain warm and dry. Here was another great learning experience, as we not only learned more about teepees, but also got to go in one. It was my son’s first time ever going inside of a teepee, and that was really cool!
He also talked about traditional Native American dress a bit, and specifically about the significance of feathers. Back in the past, Native Americans would wear only the feathers that they had earned, for feats of bravery and achievement – almost like the stripes and badges that list ranking and achievements in the military. It was a means of revealing how much the person you were dealing with had accomplished in his lifetime. Today, however, the feathers signify achievements in dancing, and dancing remains a huge aspect of retaining Native American culture these days.
Of course, he showed us some of these dances. They started off by getting active participants from the audience – almost exclusively young children – and forming a circle. He mentioned to us that the circle was all-important to Native Americans, and that the point of this dance was to signify the importance of the circle, which represents continuity and connectedness. The circle was not to be broken, come what may.
There was another dance that was taken from the pilgrims square dancing. He said that, at first, Natives laughed at this dance, where the man and the woman would hold hands. However, they tried it and made something of their own from it. He performed it with his sister, and indeed, you could see the resemblance to square dancing, although it was not quite square dancing and, if anything, seemed to me to have a bit more life to it.
Perhaps the most impressive dance that he showed us was the hoop dance. This featured - you guessed it! - hoops. What he was able to do with these hoops was truly amazing! I only got a snippet, but tried to add some other video that shows just how incredible this dance really was. He was able to pick the hoops up from flat on the ground using only his feet, and then he was able to use the hoops like a jump rope, and make all of this look effortless! Then, he displayed the hoops in such a way as to represent different animals, with the most impressive (to me) being the eagle, when he spread his wings, with several red hoops truly resembling something like wings. He also was able to make a circle, or a globe, with the hoops, and lifted them up, then quickly took them apart to show that there was no magic or use of something to make them all stick together.
If that was not the most impressive dance, then perhaps it was the Victory or Feather dance. He explained that with this dance, sometimes you might be challenged, and even if you could not do it, your honor required you to at least try. Essentially, he placed a feather on the ground, and then would dance around it once, before trying to bend down and pick the feather up with his teeth, with his feet as the only part of his body permitted to ever coming into contact with the ground. The best way to do this, he said, was to spread his legs fairly wide and kind of lean in to your elbow, which would rest on the leg closest to the feather. Then, it was about bending down, and grabbing the feather, if you will, with his teeth. He actually did this, although he said that he would have lost this challenge, because no part of a Native's wardrobe could fall apart, and a bell from his wardrobe fell off (giving whole new meaning to "wardrobe malfunction). I don't know, but it seemed quite impressive to me! And low and behold, some of the volunteers actually managed to successfully do this dance, including one adult. Frankly, I think that I might have ended up in the hospital if I tried it.
Speaking of those bells, he had placed them on his clothing, although he explained that some of the older traditions were parts taken from animals. They would take turtle shells, after the turtles themselves had become turtle soup, and they would leave them out for a day. The ants would take everything, making the shells very clean, and then the natives would use the shells for noise makers. There were also claws and other such things that also helped to make noise.
Indeed, for me, the Native American Intertribal Dancing was the highlight, the main reason that I had picked this holiday weekend, in particular, to bring my son and go see the Wild West City. He even joked about it, saying that if we liked our experience, we should tell friends and family about it, while if we did not, we should say nothing.
We returned to the Wild West City, which features shows and gun fights literally every fifteen to twenty minutes or so. Some of these shows are a bit hokey and outdated, but overall, it is pretty good fun. There was one gunfight where the undertaker was taking measurements of the guy who he figured would lose, yet the undertaker himself wound up predictably in the middle of the gunfight. He was mourned, and they, the cowboys placed him in the casket. But when they lifted the casket, there was no bottom, and so the undertaker lay there. He was alive, and he made a break for it, but he was chased down and shot again. Eventually, he ran away, although his pants had somehow been pulled down, revealing Superman underwear. Again, I reiterate that this is not the "real" Wild West experience.
There are shops (of course) selling western themed souvenirs. And there are some other extras, as well, such as the train ride and the horse carriage ride, both of which we did. Each of these extras costs $4 per person. I would recommend bringing your own food, because they allow it.
Usually, theme parks like this prevent you from bringing in your own food, so that they can charge you whatever they want for food once inside. That was admittedly what I was expecting, and so we did not bring any food in. Yet, it seemed like we could have easily brought in food from outside, which I would have if I had known in advance.
All in all, it is a fun experience, and like with Tombstone, my son was able to show that he has not grown up too fast, that he can still lose himself in experiences like this, and that he can still show he can still be a little boy from time to time. He was smiling and seemed happy through the day, and frankly, you just cannot put a price on that.
Here are some pictures from our visit to Wild West City, as well as a few pictures of is getting our last swim in the pool before the end of summer.
All in all, we had a fun day. He really seemed to enjoy interacting with the actors, although sometimes, he got kind of carried away, almost threatening them (in a playful manner). Sometimes, they seemed a bit surprised, but overall, everyone seemed to be having a good time.
They tried to really play up the theme of being like a real life town that you might see in one of those old western movies. It added to the fun, even if the place lacked the authenticity of Tombstone. Hey, this is New Jersey, after all. But it is a fun place, and comes recommended, if you just want to have a fun time.
After all, Tombstone would not be free to have the kind of lighthearted, slapstick humor that this place does, because it would detract from the legitimacy of the place. Surely, some people come to that region in order to seriously study some of those who took part in the struggle. And the fact that there were so many struggles in such a relatively small place, that so much drama was packed into a relatively small place, and in a relatively short period of time, makes a place like Tombstone alive with history.
Now, don’t get me wrong: there were cartoonish and exploitative aspects to Tombstone’s “Wild West” kind of theme park. However, this was just kind of the run-off, if you will, from the traditional mythology from the Wild West, while the place in suburban Jersey known as “Wild West City” seems to rely on that very mythology for subsistence, and thus needs to capitalize on it.
Also, the geography is vastly different. Tombstone is in the middle of the desert, near the border with Mexico. “Wild West City” is in as lush greed woodland. It is a nice setting, and just about as rural in feel as you are apt to find in the Garden State. However, there are no towering mountains off in the distance, and clearly, there is no desert, or dramatic red cliffs, to be seen anywhere. That said, again, the rural setting – it really does feel like you are in the middle of the woods somewhere – enhances, if anything, the legitimacy of this place.
Indeed, this Wild West City experience relies far more heavily on a lighthearted, rather goofy interpretation of the stereotypes and clichés of the Wild West, but that does not mean it is without any real learning or experiencing value. For the first time in his life, my son touched a horse, and we could smell the countryside, and the beasts of this small museum city, along with it. And I chose this weekend specifically, also, because it promised Native American dancing.
Admittedly, I was expecting more Native Americans, something more like a Pow Wow, I guess. My parents used to take my brother and I to Pow Wows every now and then when we were younger, and you learned about the otherwise largely invisible presence of Native Americans in New Jersey.
Come to think of it, that is also one of the major differences not only between Tombstone and Wild West City, but also between Arizona, and numerous other western states, and many eastern states like New Jersey. The presence of Native American culture is everywhere in places like Arizona. You see artistic designs and clothing and goods, and just varying physical and highly visible reminders of those who lived here before out west. In Flagstaff, we saw the stone ruins of the ancients, and of course, we visited the most famous old Native American site within the United States when we visited Mesa Verde, the oldest surviving human habitat within the United States, within the cliffs of Ute Mountain in the Rockies of southwestern Colorado. There just is nothing so obvious and undeniable to compare with that in New Jersey, or indeed anywhere in the northeastern states, and thus you really have to search for things, like Pow Wows or places like this that offer Native American dancing, to find any real traces of Native American culture here.
That is why I sought out the Native American dancing, and it was well worth it! Frankly, to me, it was easily the highlight of our visit! There were only three of them, all from the same family – the main guy, his sister, and her daughter. And only the guy spoke, but he had some informative tips for everyone. He let us know that they were Mohawks, who are part of the larger Iroquois nation. They used to be relegated only to a reservation that was three square miles in size, but now, they have eight reservations scattered through southern Canada and northern New York state. He taught us that the traditional greeting portrayal of Native Americans raising their right hand in an almost wave and saying, “How” was predictably wrong. Native Americans would indeed raise their right hand, but he reminded us that they would then address their greeting in their own language, and there were well over one hundred separate languages that Native Americans spoke throughout the continent! He even taught us how to greet in three of the different languages – in Mohawk, and in Seminole. I even remember that the Mohawk greeting sounded like “Say Go.” Apparently, raising the right hand in this manner was to show peaceful intentions, a way of saying that you were unarmed. However, he said that if the left hand goes up, then watch out!
He talked about the five nations of the Iroquois – the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, and mentioned also that Mohawks were known as Guardians or Keeper of the Eastern Door, as they come from the easternmost point among the Iroquois. The Seneca, who lived around where Buffalo and western New York state presently are, were known as Guardians or Keepers of the Western Door.
They had put up three tee pees, and he explained the simplicity and efficiency of them to us. Two of them had their entrance doors closed, and these were the two that they themselves were sleeping in during their stay at Wild West City. He said that whenever you saw the doors closed, that was a way of saying do not enter. You can approach the teepee and announce yourself, but if the door was not then opened to you, it was respectful to then leave the immediate premises of where the teepee stood, and leave the occupants in their privacy. He suggested that it was much like our homes, where we do not announce ourselves to neighbors by opening the door and walking right in, and said that this was a universal rule for anywhere and everywhere in North America where you might run into a teepee. He also explained that there were flaps on the top of the teepee that allowed ventilation for smoke, which allowed teepees to be the only kinds of tents where you could have a fire inside. However, you could also close the flaps in the event of inclimate or raining weather, so that the occupants inside could remain warm and dry. Here was another great learning experience, as we not only learned more about teepees, but also got to go in one. It was my son’s first time ever going inside of a teepee, and that was really cool!
He also talked about traditional Native American dress a bit, and specifically about the significance of feathers. Back in the past, Native Americans would wear only the feathers that they had earned, for feats of bravery and achievement – almost like the stripes and badges that list ranking and achievements in the military. It was a means of revealing how much the person you were dealing with had accomplished in his lifetime. Today, however, the feathers signify achievements in dancing, and dancing remains a huge aspect of retaining Native American culture these days.
Of course, he showed us some of these dances. They started off by getting active participants from the audience – almost exclusively young children – and forming a circle. He mentioned to us that the circle was all-important to Native Americans, and that the point of this dance was to signify the importance of the circle, which represents continuity and connectedness. The circle was not to be broken, come what may.
There was another dance that was taken from the pilgrims square dancing. He said that, at first, Natives laughed at this dance, where the man and the woman would hold hands. However, they tried it and made something of their own from it. He performed it with his sister, and indeed, you could see the resemblance to square dancing, although it was not quite square dancing and, if anything, seemed to me to have a bit more life to it.
Perhaps the most impressive dance that he showed us was the hoop dance. This featured - you guessed it! - hoops. What he was able to do with these hoops was truly amazing! I only got a snippet, but tried to add some other video that shows just how incredible this dance really was. He was able to pick the hoops up from flat on the ground using only his feet, and then he was able to use the hoops like a jump rope, and make all of this look effortless! Then, he displayed the hoops in such a way as to represent different animals, with the most impressive (to me) being the eagle, when he spread his wings, with several red hoops truly resembling something like wings. He also was able to make a circle, or a globe, with the hoops, and lifted them up, then quickly took them apart to show that there was no magic or use of something to make them all stick together.
If that was not the most impressive dance, then perhaps it was the Victory or Feather dance. He explained that with this dance, sometimes you might be challenged, and even if you could not do it, your honor required you to at least try. Essentially, he placed a feather on the ground, and then would dance around it once, before trying to bend down and pick the feather up with his teeth, with his feet as the only part of his body permitted to ever coming into contact with the ground. The best way to do this, he said, was to spread his legs fairly wide and kind of lean in to your elbow, which would rest on the leg closest to the feather. Then, it was about bending down, and grabbing the feather, if you will, with his teeth. He actually did this, although he said that he would have lost this challenge, because no part of a Native's wardrobe could fall apart, and a bell from his wardrobe fell off (giving whole new meaning to "wardrobe malfunction). I don't know, but it seemed quite impressive to me! And low and behold, some of the volunteers actually managed to successfully do this dance, including one adult. Frankly, I think that I might have ended up in the hospital if I tried it.
Speaking of those bells, he had placed them on his clothing, although he explained that some of the older traditions were parts taken from animals. They would take turtle shells, after the turtles themselves had become turtle soup, and they would leave them out for a day. The ants would take everything, making the shells very clean, and then the natives would use the shells for noise makers. There were also claws and other such things that also helped to make noise.
Indeed, for me, the Native American Intertribal Dancing was the highlight, the main reason that I had picked this holiday weekend, in particular, to bring my son and go see the Wild West City. He even joked about it, saying that if we liked our experience, we should tell friends and family about it, while if we did not, we should say nothing.
We returned to the Wild West City, which features shows and gun fights literally every fifteen to twenty minutes or so. Some of these shows are a bit hokey and outdated, but overall, it is pretty good fun. There was one gunfight where the undertaker was taking measurements of the guy who he figured would lose, yet the undertaker himself wound up predictably in the middle of the gunfight. He was mourned, and they, the cowboys placed him in the casket. But when they lifted the casket, there was no bottom, and so the undertaker lay there. He was alive, and he made a break for it, but he was chased down and shot again. Eventually, he ran away, although his pants had somehow been pulled down, revealing Superman underwear. Again, I reiterate that this is not the "real" Wild West experience.
There are shops (of course) selling western themed souvenirs. And there are some other extras, as well, such as the train ride and the horse carriage ride, both of which we did. Each of these extras costs $4 per person. I would recommend bringing your own food, because they allow it.
Usually, theme parks like this prevent you from bringing in your own food, so that they can charge you whatever they want for food once inside. That was admittedly what I was expecting, and so we did not bring any food in. Yet, it seemed like we could have easily brought in food from outside, which I would have if I had known in advance.
All in all, it is a fun experience, and like with Tombstone, my son was able to show that he has not grown up too fast, that he can still lose himself in experiences like this, and that he can still show he can still be a little boy from time to time. He was smiling and seemed happy through the day, and frankly, you just cannot put a price on that.
Here are some pictures from our visit to Wild West City, as well as a few pictures of is getting our last swim in the pool before the end of summer.
All in all, we had a fun day. He really seemed to enjoy interacting with the actors, although sometimes, he got kind of carried away, almost threatening them (in a playful manner). Sometimes, they seemed a bit surprised, but overall, everyone seemed to be having a good time.
They tried to really play up the theme of being like a real life town that you might see in one of those old western movies. It added to the fun, even if the place lacked the authenticity of Tombstone. Hey, this is New Jersey, after all. But it is a fun place, and comes recommended, if you just want to have a fun time.
My son opening up the saloon doors, like in a old western movie.
We went to the town prison, where I gladly allowed my son to get behind the bars and into the cell. He of course made faces and pretended to cry, as well as made his escape.
This purple flag is the flag of the Iroquois. He explained that the primary color is purple because traditionally, the Iroquois liked clam shells, and they would make jewelry and other things from it. But the more purple the color, the more valuable the shell. Thus, the color purple for the Iroquois flag. For more information on the Iroquois flag, see the link below:
His first visit to an actual teepee!
He tried to put his toy gun through the hole, and could not do it. I offered to help, but of course he refused, insisting that he could do it. In the end, he gave up on the idea, although I could easily have helped him there.
He tried to put his toy gun through the hole, and could not do it. I offered to help, but of course he refused, insisting that he could do it. In the end, he gave up on the idea, although I could easily have helped him there.
He really seemed to enjoy the train ride and the horse carriage ride, as well.
Final swim in the pool for this summer!
I found these articles particularly useful while writing this blog entry. The first is a helpful site with information about the Iroquois nations, and the second is a link about the Iroquois flag. The final one was a blog from someone who was also there at Wild West City, watching the Native American Intertribal Dancing, and admittedly took better video clips than I did. Enjoy:
The Six Nations Confederacy During the American Revolution Compiled by Park Ranger William Sawyer
The Iroquois Flag:
Iroquois Confederacy (U.S. and Canada) Native American - First Nation:
Learn Through Dance at Wild West City by Monica Atkins, June 29, 2016
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