jac605

Hi all, recently I had the good fortune to become a part of the Pittsburgh American Indian Center as their IT Manager/web developer and I'm currently building their site. I could really use your help to get a good explanation of powwows and what they mean to Native Americans both spiritually and socially. Thanks for your help.
Joel

WhoMe

Joel,

PM me and I will send you an excellent resource with powwow information full of quotes.

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"Today, recognizing and respecting the origins of powwow aids in our Cultural Survival. If enough people break the rules because they are not satisfied...."We will have no culture."

WhoMe

quicksilverwade

Jac65,
You'll be okay as long as you follow these guidelines. I also put the links for confirmation.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lakhota/files/Policies


matopejutaska@aol.com wrote:
For those who have requested this,, Here they are

Policies of Lakhota Language EGroup

1) This group is moderated.

2) Learning Lakhota Language, past and present culture and friendship between Non Native and Native members as co-students is our focus.

3) No discussion of religious ceremony is tolerated. This includes;
- Pipe ceremonies
- Visions and interpretations
- Inipi
- ANY Ceremonies
- Dreams and interpretations
- Spirit Guides
- Any other item that is encompassed in the term "spirituality"
- Ceremonial songs (this does not encompass "pow wow songs", they are not ceremonial)

The Lakota religion is very real and sacred to those who follow it; Failure to respect this policy is grounds for immediate removal from the group without warning.

4) We do not issue "Lakota Names" or "Indian names" to members or their pets. Please do not ask for an Indian name.

5) Anyone who is rude or disrespectful to another member, seeks to ridicule others or uses obscene language or swear words will be unsubscribed.

6) No Spam and no direct posts from other eGroups (unless agreed with the moderators)

7) Everyone is welcome to contribute relevant material but no one is to pose as THE spokesperson for the Lakhota and the authority on all things Lakhota!!!! We have many informed sources within the group, Native and Non-Native.

8) If you wish to have long personal conversations that have no relevance to others, go to the chat room, do it privately.

9) If you are NOT Native American, please do not make a claim that you are. This group promotes honesty, if you cannot be honest about whom you are, then please leave this group (we will eventually find out).

Please follow these rules to keep the peace within the group.

Best Regards,

Your Moderators

__________________________________________________


http://www.dlncoalition.org/dln_issu...an_culture.htm

The Declaration
Whereas we are the conveners of an ongoing series of comprehensive forums on the abuse and exploitation of Lakota spirituality; and whereas we represent the recognized traditional spiritual leaders, traditional elders, and grassroots advocates of the Lakota people; and whereas for too long we have suffered the unspeakable indignity of having our most precious Lakota ceremonies and spiritual practices desecrated, mocked and abused by non-Indian 'wannabes', hucksters, cultists, commercial profiteers and self-styled 'New Age shaman' and their followers; and whereas with horror and outrage we see this disgraceful expropriation of our sacred Lakota traditions has reached epidemic proportions; and whereas our precious Sacred Pipe is being desecrated through the sale of pipestone pipes at flea markets, powwows, and 'New Age' retail stores; and whereas pseudo-religious corporations have been formed to charge people money for admission into phoney 'sweatlodges' and 'vision quest' programmes; and whereas sacrilegious 'sundances' for non-Indians and cult leaders who promote abominable and obscene imitations of our sacred Lakota sundance rites; and whereas non-Indians have organised themselves into imitation tribes, assigning themselves make-believe Indian names to facilitate their wholesale expropriation and commercialisation of our Lakota traditions; and whereas academic disciples have sprung up at colleges and universities, institutionalizing the sacrilegious imitation of our spiritual practices by students and instructors under the guise of educational programs in 'shamanism'; and whereas non-Indian charlatans and 'wannabes' are selling books that promote the systematic colonization of our Lakota spirituality; and whereas the television and film industry continues to saturate the entertainment media with vulgar, sensationalist and grossly distorted representations of Lakota spirituality and culture which reinforce the public's negative stereotyping of Indian people and which gravely impair the self-esteem of our children; and whereas the absurd public posturing of this scandalous assortment of pseudo-Indian charlatans, cultists, 'wannabes', commercial profiteers, and 'New Age' shamans comprises a momentous obstacle in the struggle of traditional Lakota people for an adequate public appraisal of the legitimate political, legal and spiritual needs of real Lakota people; and whereas this exponential exploitation of our Lakota spiritual traditions requires we take immediate action to defend our most precious Lakota spirituality from further contamination, desecration and abuse; Therefore we resolve as follow:

1. We hereby and henceforth declare war against all persons who persist in exploiting, abusing and misrepresenting the sacred traditions and spiritual practices of our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.

2. We call upon all our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota brothers and sisters to actively and vocally oppose this alarming take over and systematic destruction of our sacred traditions.

3. We urge our people to coordinate with tribal members everywhere to identify instances in which our sacred traditions are being abused, and then to resist this abuse, utilizing whatever specific tactics are necessary; demonstrations, boycotts, press conferences etc.

4. We especially urge all our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people to take action to prevent our own people from contributing to, and enabling, the abuse of our sacred ceremonies and spiritual practices by outsiders. As we all know, there are ones among our own people who are prostituting our spiritual ways for their own selfish gain.

5. We assert a posture of zero-tolerance for any 'white man's shaman' who rises from within our own communities to 'authorize' the expropriation of our ceremonial ways by non-Indians. All such 'plastic medicine men' are our enemies.

6. We urge traditional people, tribal leaders, and governing councils of all other Indian nations, to join us in calling for an immediate end to this rampant exploitation of our respective American Indian sacred traditions by issuing statements denouncing such abuse. It is not only the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people whose spiritual practices are being violated by non-Indians.

7. We urge all our Indian brothers and sisters to act decisively and boldly in our present campaign to end the destruction of our sacred traditions, keeping in mind our highest duty as Indian people; to preserve the purity of our precious traditions for our children and the future generations so that they will survive and prosper in the sacred manner intended for each of our respective peoples by our Creator.

Tom Iron Eagle

At first glance and thought, one may think that is a rather strange and perhaps even stupid question.

But, Jac605, it is actually a very good question as our Culture progesses into this New Century.

Obviously the "powwow" has changed over the past 110 years - that is a given. But for many of us older folks, the "powwow" has greatly changed in just the past 10 years. Many of us have seen the "powwow" become so comercial that it is barely distinguishable from a typical "something-american festival." Sad but very true with many events across the country.

Its meaning to Native American Life is almost as vast as Native American Life itself. Explanation - it is not the one thought or few thoughts that it was many, many years ago.

Examples:

1. For some it is Religion and Ceremony.

2. For some it is an integral part of their culture - but not religious.

3. For some it is just a show of Culture to other Cultures since powwows are social and open to the public.

4. For some Traders & Vendors & Dancers it is just a part of their job as this is what they do for a living.

These are just four simple examples - we could go on and list literally hundreds of things that a powwow means to one's life and even Native American Life in general.

WhoMe

Tom,

You have posted some excellent "food for thought."

In the last ten years, powwow evolution has skyrocketed at the same pace as modern technology.

I have seen a lot of posts on pws.com where so many members are looking forward to the "new" powwow trends, outfits and songs that have come out this powwow season.

I'm not saying this is bad. It is good to look to the future. . .

However, the direction of powwows seem to now being decided by younger people and "newbies" who DO NOT have a firm grasp of the roots and meanings of powwow history.

Any comments?

__________________
"Today, recognizing and respecting the origins of powwow aids in our Cultural Survival. If enough people break the rules because they are not satisfied...."We will have no culture."

WhoMe

NDNKIDZ

Goot thread guys..:) As a parent I would like to think that I pass on traditions to my children and teach them the proper things in life.. Looking back at my young and teen years I always wanted the newest things (didnt get them..lol) but i still wanted them.. Technology today has increased so many times over that 6 monthes is now out of date, and our children are trying to keep up at even a faster pace then we did.. The information hiway is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!! so much information in their faces now that if you want to know it it is at a click of a button.. young people of today.. this is what they know.. so naturally they will move it into their daily lives. I look back at powow's 10 years ago and am amazed at the changes that have taken place in fabrics and ideas.. This site is a prime example of changeing the way we look at powwow's.. I hope my point hasn't gotten lost.. LOL I am looking to the future and what is see is a little frighteneing but hey our parents felt the same about us..LOL

__________________
"I don't mind coming to work,
> But that eight hour wait to go home is a BITE."

Stlatlimx Woman

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Stlatlimx Woman
:43:

Tom Iron Eagle

This is why I like powwows.com - a chance to talk and discuss deep and thought provoking concepts.

Who Me - you seem to always "hit the nail on the head." You make a great point and I have to say that I agree with you. I look back on my youth and remeber how I saw things. Unlike most of the youth of my day I reveled and cherished the teachings of my Elders. I am not saying that our youth today are not heading to the Elders, but with the way things are changing faster than we can even keep up is really causing the "generation gaps" to get broader with each minute.

I then have to make sure that I am not being to general. After all there was a gap between my generation and the one before me and so on. But in this case hindsight is actualy 20/10 and the gaps in the past are nothing like today.

NDNKIDZ & Stlatlmix Woman you have great thoughts and ideas on this subject too. The powwow is every changing much like everything in our world. We can't stop its evolution, but should we not slow it down?

WisconsinBlackBear

Excellent point. Traditions will always evolve. If they don't then they are dead because they cannot be appropriated by the next generation. However, it is the rate of change that can be managed.

It seems to me that changes in outward things like fabrics, beadwork styles, and construction methods can change fairly quickly without too much loss. It is the deeper meanings of things like showing proper respect for the drum and for the arena that definitely need to be perpetuated. And there are many other things that fall somewhere inbetween.

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When you are born into this world you reach for either a bow and quiver, which is blessed by the Sun, our Grandfather, or you reach for an awl and sewing bag, which is blessed by the moon, our Grandmother. From that time on you will follow that vision and be blessed.

TacO5000

powwow is a chance for me to sing and others dance, then as the dance draws to close to find out were everyone is going ie. bar, field, or anyother place were there might be a fourty nine, sing some more, and do it again the next day

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Dayum I make some keen DrumSticks!!!!!!

old bull

what a pow wow means to me is a chance to leave this modern culture and step back also as a drummer to be able to sing our old as well as just written songs also to be able to teach our ways to young people so i will be able to sit and listen to the music and watch our people dancing with a full heart knowing our ways won't end with this older generation but continue as long as the sun rises and sets

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long hair

NDNKIDZ

Wouldnt we alll love to slow things down.... :) I personally would love to see things as they used to be years ago..LOL but unfortunately i dont have the answer to that question...... But i also think it can also continue some great dialouge to this thread.. anyone else have any ideas how powwows can retain some of the ideals that are starting to be lost?

__________________
"I don't mind coming to work,
> But that eight hour wait to go home is a BITE."