crazy-wolf

Me and my family are sac and fox of kansas. We have just started going to Pow Wow's, maybe 5 at the most. When we do inner tribel, my 2 year old has that natural rhythlem with the drum beat. I want to get him dancing A.S.A.P. I need advice on style of dance, proper clothing, and music.

sookout sh'nob

If I was making a gras regalia for a two year old, I would make it from pants and a shirt with the yarn sewn straight onto that. It's easier to get the child dresed and undressed and still maintain a full looking regalia. Kids grow fast at this age and a lot of parents opt for just an apron and cape (I would make a full regalia for my child so I could show
off how proud I am :D).

There are a few things that come to mind.

Applique - Do this before all else, but above all, show of your love for your child and do it ;) I see a lot of kids out there that look just in poor condition.

Moccasins - A lot of folks in my area send their kids into the arena wearing sneakers. Go with the old time shoes for a real good lookin kid ;)

Head Roach - Our lodge typically makes old syle roaches out of deer tails for our boys. They are smaller, but then again, so are our boys :D They look real nice when they are finished and the old guys at the drums really like to talk about them - I think it takes them back to when they were boys.

The shirt - you could do this in a slight V like they do on cowboy shirts or in a straight line from the front to back across the shoulders - think of the beadwork strips on old warshirts. A drop loop necklace can also be sewn into the collar of the shirt.
A fewlonger ribbons hung seperate from the fringe row for accent looks real sharp and adds a lot to the movement. I usually run these through a concho with the slot hole and slide it up to the half way mark. I machine ssew a stitch across the ribbon and then sew it down to the shirt by hand.

The pants - There are a couple different way to do this. If you are going to make side drops, you could sew some legging fringe either below the knee or at the ankle. Either one should look real sharp.
I have also seen where there are no side drops and a diagonal slash of fringe that starts at the top of the pants seam and goes straight with the seam for a couple inches and then crosses the front of the thigh in a diagonal line down to the inide of the knees. I believe this person also had goat hair anklets or ankle fringe.

The apron - You could sew it straight onto the pants. If you wanted to make drops, you could sew them on to. Wait until lat if you choose to sew the aprong or drops straight onto the pants. This allows you you to lay down pants fringe without any extra hassle. (I would, easier to dress and keep track of).

When I was done with all of this, I would also "pay" to have a drum dance him into the arena and "bless" the reglaia. I'm not sure if they do it this way were you are from, but I mention it anyways.

The drums will take care of the music and he'll develop his own style of dance ;) Teach him the difference between the specials (crow hop, double beat, sneak up, etc... ) and he'll do great :D

ojibwaysweetie

Heyyyyyyyyyyy I never thought to sew the aprons and side drops onto the pants. Coooooooooooool!!


;)

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sookout sh'nob

There is a patent in Canada on that idea there :D

eagleclan22

Thats how I did it for my nephew too.. that way he just has to pull on his pants and wolla! hes all set.. well the shirt too of course

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http://pages.ivillage.com/sagkeengpowwow2003/

Some guys are good with their drum sticks.... and some just arent...:karate:

T. Jude Fox

First of all 2 years olds have their "own style." *laughs*

Some big beads work well for making a quick grass outfit, they're durable and do the job. Otherwise cloth applique' works well. Some nice faux' feathers from Crazy Crow Trading Post would be cool too, I'd prefer the Spinnerz.

Then just let'em get out there and find themselves, it's always BEST to let them teach themselves how to dance, unless of course they are way off beat or jus look funny.

But if you're from a traditional tribe where "any and all" grassdancer wanna be's want to dance, they need to go before the society and acquire the rights to dance, then possibly join that society. Then they will show him the wayzzzzzz...dig?

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sookout sh'nob

Everyone's got a tyle, its just harder to see sometimes ;) heh

One other thing, I would humbly ask avoid using the raggy lookin cloth fringe that seems to be getting more and more common these days. This look is traditionally reserved for contraries and sacred clowns in many tribes across the world. No one in thier right mind would dare make a regalia out of rags - to do things this way is to make your relationship with the creator shabby and throw away and can carry dangerous consequence for those without the proper way. Sort of the flip side of why I encouraged you to applique and really make it look good.

Course if you are non-tradish, what the hell eh :D

Ezhichigay ezhichigayd.

RedShawl

What are the colors mostly related with your tribe ? It would be a good background for his outfit and the yarn or ribbon you decide to use. If your boy is good with the beat and hast
the energy grass or fancy may be his place but the it's the dance that picks the dancer in the end of things. Start there and the rest will come. Get you a catalog from Crazy Crow Co. out of Pottsboro, TX lots of stuff for all dancers and a lot of music too

the-grass-punk

what i did was watch some videos and got help from my relative. the outfit is really easy to make if u know how to make it.or u can go to the pawn shop and buy an outfit thats what we did wit my lil bro

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