Riverwoman

From what I have heard, and been taught, a woman is so called "not allowed" to do that, when she is on her moon time. Same with dancing.

EducatedNdN

Think about your question and truly think how the powwow world revolves around the cans and cannots. The deep picture and answer to your question is more of the when because those of you who trapes around in your 'sacred costumes' for the weekend always bicker and whine over 'the elders said so' and try to hyphothesis the cans and cannots. It's a powwow and to be honest merely a show for the masses, NdN's included and the worst of all the gripes for all wanting centerstage and fame!

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theepowwowchic49

Words from a famous white elder named Red that I use every day;

D-U-M-B-A-S-S-!

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:indian1: THE DARKER THE FLESH THEN THE DEEPER THE ROOTS :indian1:

WolfTears

First of all they are not costumes ...second of all awwwwwww never mind its not worth my effort you wouldnt get it.:Yell

hidatsawmn26

educayted ndn,
man dont even try to go there..everybody now knows your fake and ya made yarself known to be that because of your words "costumes"...any native knows that jingle dress etc.. aint no costume...why is a jingle dress considered a costume to you? its a medicine dress that only certain people have the right to wear..personally im one of those aand i take it totally ofensively when you call it a "costume"...hell why aare ya even on here to begin with..just grow up man...i just dont even wanna go any further here b/c ya aint worth it man...-becca

tewabeadz

Dang! Every thred I read, there is EducatedNDN hatin' on something. I guess he may have taken devil's advocate to far and borrowed a page from the "blue-eyed devil" lol
Tewa
:Mad :)

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"A nation is not defeated until the hearts of it's women are on the ground."

Roobz

Take it easy on the guy he's from the land of broken hearted and he's the "mightest" of them all. Hey do you think he's Filbert's bro from Powwow Highway? Remember the scene where they hit the powwow and he's all hateful towards the whole powwow and he even used the word "traipse" gosh lighten up tho really! I think we all know by now that you are an anti powwow NdN :Chatter

softwind

Has anyone ever heard the drum group IronNecklace well they have a girl drummer and they are a really great drum group. I think it is cool to see a girl drummer. So I think it is where you are from. I do not know where the group is from they look like they are from out west some where. All I know is they are good.:)

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SoftWind

peekaboo

HONEEEE I READ THROUGH ALL THESE REPLIES AND I NOW FORGOT THE ORIGINAL QUESTION?

O YES SOMETHING ABOUT OWM DRUM GROUPS.
SO WHAT DO YOU MEN THI WHEN YOU ARE A JUDGE AND YOUCOME UP TO A DRUM THAT HIS WOMEN SITTING AT THE DRUM? DOES IT BOTHER YOU ANY OR DO YOU NOT CARE AS LONG AS SHE "PULLS HER WIEGHT"?

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"Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

Historian

First of all, since this question comes from a female it would be most proper for a female to answer it. However, since these are modern times, I'll see what I can do.

First, most Pow-wows today have evolved from Plains Tribe cultures. Within the Plains cultures, the main pow-Wow tradition dictates having a large drum with male singers sitting at the drum and singing while beating the on the drum, and female singers standing behind the men and singing harmony. This has been the traditional way in the Northern and Southern Plains. Women traditionally never sat at the large Pow-Wow Drum, or used a stick on the drum.

Secondly, as to why the women traditionally never sat on the drum. I have been taught that when the men singers began a song, depending on the type of song and why it was being sung, they would call on the directional spirits to come to the dance location, or they would mention a deceased ancestor in the song and expect their spirit to come to the dance location. In other songs, the "Thunder Beings" would be called on to come down from the sky, come "through" the drum and put their spiritual power into the dancers. Because of this traditional belief in the spiritual power accociated with the drum (which is believed by some tribes to be a living entity in itself), and the spiritual power associated with the songs sung through the drum, great care was given to how this power would be controled or directed.

Next, as many may or may not know, many of the Plains tribes believe that when a women is in the midst of her menstrual cycle (some call it the "moom time" or "being on her moon"), she has a very high level of spiritual power being generated through her body and around her. It's the natural way of things. It is therefore a traditional belief, that when a woman has this high spiritual power within her during her menstrual cycle, if she were to sit at a drum to sing, it may cause an overload in spiritual power that would have an unpredictable outcome. The message may not get through in the way that it was intended. Think of it like trying to watch TV when someone is running their hairdryer. All you see on TV is static interferance. Therefore, women have traditionally "refrained" from paticipating in such things as a safety precaution for the benefit of all the people.

However, traditionally, as has been previously stated, Plains tribe women have always had hand drum songs and ceremonies without men included, with their own rules and traditions.

Today, some drums are inviting women to be included to sit at the drum to sing and beat, or to have an all women drum. I think change is a good thing, so long as the original reasons for the older traditions are continued to be taught and respected.

I appologize for any embarressment I may have caused any ladies by the boldness of my explanation. I only hope that these traditional ways can be passed on to help out younger generations that may not have access to the knowledge by any other means.

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"Be good, be kind, help each other."
"Respect the ground, respect the drum, respect each other."
--Abe Conklin, Ponca/Osage (1926-1995)

WolfTears

some things should be kept private .
Drums of all kinds have their ways . But thanks for sharing.

Speedy™

I just had my first expirience with one of these "unity" drums. :Shocked I spent three hours in a car to go to this powwow up in Charlemont, MA where not one damn real native to be found anywhere.. Probably because of this fact no doubt.
Me and my bro got our regalia on and walked into this abomination and heard the women "singing" and thought it had to be a kid or something.
When we finally saw that it was a bunch of white people, mostly women singing we about had a heart attack. While all the wannabes and spectators gawked at our TRUE regalia, the "MC" and a few other "powwow" officials and "drummers" asked us why we weren't dancing. I explained in no uncertain terms that neither me or my brother would dance or go anywhere near that circle. We were deeply offended by these people as I'm sure most local natives were as well. The only people I saw dancing were white wannabes. I had no interest in taking part in thier horribly disrespectful charade. They dishonored many nations and many people. We were told by these people that "The old ways are dying, and the new ways are taking over. We are going with the flow." I wanted to SMACK them. I was thinking "What is this WE crap?! Who the HELL are you people?! What right do you have???. It is people like THAT that are the reason for all this horrible misrepresentation of us. I don't know of one elder, council, tribe, or nation that would condone this. I told these people so and they had nothing to say. I don't have a problem with women singing behind the drum. But a woman has NO place sitting at the drum and singing. This isn't chauvinism. It is tradition. As with all tradition there is a GOOD reason behind it.
I will never go to that powwow or any other that is hosted or has a "unity" drum in attendance in the future.
:Yell

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wannabeUrNo1Snag

yeah alot of "powwows" on the east coast are like that...i went to a powwow think at uconn or some ct university..nuttin but white people there...we got there n it wuz wrappin up...NDN TIME...thank goodness....i didn't have to pay to get into that mofo cuz white dancers, singers, vendors...everywhere...:Yell ....wasn't aware the drumz were called "unity drumz"...sounds very twinkish....anyone ever heard of a drum called "circle of frenz??"

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Leslie Stonechild

Don't wannabe no rider but i like what speedy had to say!

Without our traditions where are we?

We are a respectful people.

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Where's the Pow-wow at????

hidatsawmn26

hay dont down all east coast powwows..ya just experienced one badly runned powwow..its hard to get used to them but hay its better to make adjustments...but unity whah? i never heard of a unity drum before...this is new to me..someone needs to email them adn say hay wannabes blah blah blah ya know? well i gotta get going have class today ugh!!! laterz-becca

oOoSouthernStyozoOo

At a pow-wow I went to couple of years ago, the committee was all white! And we were sitting next to a drum group with white singer and white women backing up the drum.Me and my cuz were shocked. THe pow-wow wasn't ran very well. and the committee chairman was the one to announce the winners and he pronounced some tribes wrong and he pronounced mine wrong too. I was angry because that whole pow-wow was about $$$$$$$ for them!

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