Originally Posted by Highwolf89

Why should a CDIB card tell weather you are or you are not ndn. Why should a card determine a persons life on the bases of there parents. I am 18 and come from a father who is white and a mother who is cherokee/ojibwe. There is this problem within my native blood that acts like a wall that you would find in china. For i am the first generation of my mothers side to be proud of my native heritage and to act upon that heritage and learn and learn and try to re assimalate myself back into my cherokee and ojibwe culture like my great grandmother, grandmother, and mother have been assimalated into the white society. I have taught myself everything with no help only the picking up of tools. I have learned to play the Native American flute very well and even allowed my own hands to create my own flutes. I have learned more history about my people then anyone does of there own cutlure and i did this all by myself no one helped me i had no help but my self and creator. I am looked down upon by my white brothers and sisters and now i am looked down upon by my native brothers and sisters. So why must i be the one that is being flammed or burned upon because of a card that i do not have because the circumstances of my people. They had fled the trail of tears where my great great grandmother(Cherokee) had met up with my Great great grandfather (ojibwe) and with my grandmother fleeing the res and never being on the dawes rolls there is no paper that says who I am. Whats funny though is I dont need a little plastic card to tell me who I am just as much as a credit card should tell you what to spend it on. I have recently took my teachings on to the powwows. I have taught myself more things then a person does in there whole life. Now i am in a big tail spin because of this plastic CDIB card. I have recently picked up on the Northern Traditional dance and hoping to start dancing because i want to further my teaching and my own reassimaltion back into my cutlure. But now I hear that i must be taught and must be introduced. I have taught myself the dance and I have worked tiredless dance on my regalia with some questions. but I still have no one as nither did Charles Eastman of the Sioux nation when he was assimlated into the white society. So why must a card determine who I am when I am the one that is remaining true to myself. I am alone on my powwow trail with no guide. with people laughing in my face all the way. So now I leave the decision to you guys.

gichimanidoo wiidookawashin

Originally Posted by timmy tiger

Okay, well first of all you are talking about a CDIB card which comes through the BIA and is now associated with Tribal Enrollement, it didn't used to always be that way--but when the BIA split a few years ago--the CDIB's are all issued through the BIA through the tribes now, that is my understanding of that now--and not all of them are "Cards" by the way. Now, you must get your tribal enrollment and then the tribe will submit for the CDIB, that is the way that I understand it now.

That is up to the different pow wow's to do that. I've seen ones that only accept Federal Tribes or State Tribes for purposed of competition. However, many of these same pow wow's will allow anyone who wishes to dance during intertribals to go ahead and do so. My point on that is: If you don't like it--Don't go. Just that simple. Just my opinion here.

Originally Posted by timmy tiger

First of all, I'm not going to go into how you were taught about dancing and drum and all of that.

But, A Pow Wow is NOT a ceramony--it is a gathering of people and open to the public. There may be things that go on there that are honor things and stuff like that, but they are not ceramonies or they would not be open for the public and there would not be money involved, that says it all right there.