complete novice, looking for help

fightingoneself · 07-23-2005, 01:26 AM

I was kinda nervous about posting here. I've posted as a novice to other things before on other sites, and got compleatly trashed, so please believe I post here with most sincere curiosity.

I recently found out about my native american heratige and have been to only one or two pow wows in my life, as a spectator (when I was pretty young). I want to learn as much as I can of this part of my heratige. I want to be able to go to a Pow Wow and fully understand what's going on. I want to learn everything about the culture from a personal point of view. I know I can look online, but getting it from a personal perspective is totally different.

I apologize if that seemed compleatly and utterly corny. I just have a few questions that I couldn't find answers for on this site.

1. What is the judgeing criteria at Pow Wows?
2. Does everyone make thier dance clothing for the Pow Wows?
3. How do you know the dances? choreographed steps? improvisation?

I'm sure there are other questions, but my mind is drawing a blank. I'll post them later. I would greatly appriciate any help. Again, please have mercy on a curiouse novice.

**badmaninc** · 07-23-2005, 05:52 AM

Dude, I will help you but you have to send money first. Send me a cheque for $1,000.00. LOL

fightingoneself · 07-23-2005, 01:41 PM

yeah, ha ha. is that how you get your kicks? picking on the new person?

kgirl7 · 07-23-2005, 06:09 PM

Badmaninc was just teasing ya, and i'll be honest i was tempted to give ya a little ribbing, but not with mal-intent.

I see you've joined this month, you might want to take some time and read through the threads on this site, and the archives. A lot of what you ask can be found there, and check out the humor section too. Reading through the threads should also clear things up a bit about why people react the way they do.

**Joe's Dad** · 07-23-2005, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightingoneself

yeah, ha ha. is that how you get your kicks? picking on the new person?

Hi F1S! You're new around here, eh? Welcome. If you read some of the other threads in chit chat forum, you'll learn that many of us have a goot sense of humor. You'll find that badmaninc is one of the coolest guys around here (you owe me five bucks, bad). You will learn that we come from all walks of life and the commonality is our heritage and culture. Slow down and enjoy the ride.

You can fight wit yourself but don't fight with the people on here. Have fun and enjoy yourself!

Joe's Dad

**Joe's Dad** · 07-23-2005, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badmaninc

Dude, I will help you but you have to send money first. Send me a cheque for $1,000.00. LOL

I thought you were supposed to ask for tobacco?

**badmaninc** · 07-23-2005, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe's Dad

I thought you were supposed to ask for tobacco?

remember I am having a couple of specials. I need the money. LOL. I wasn't teasing that new person. I thought it would be a good lesson on sharing among our people. If that dude gives me the thou, I will be sure to send you the tobacco along with 5 bucks.

ChrissyRedhorn · 07-23-2005, 10:33 PM

Welcome to the group

Where in NJ are you located?? Im in Camden County

fightingoneself · 07-24-2005, 03:38 AM

First, I'm from Burlington County
second, I normally have a (shall I admit) so so sense of humor. working on that though. As I mentioned, I've tryed to get in on other sites for other things and was compleatly shut out and burned. I was not sure how to approch this situation, and I guess I still take things a little to personal. lightening up is a constent work in progress, but I think it will be much better now I know everyone is great here.
third, I will definantly check out everything I can on this site.

I have one more question though. I was looking though the list of schedualed Pow Wows in Jersey for the rest of this year. How come Jersey has almost none?! or am I not lookin in the right place? There is a reservation near my house that has a semi-annual arts festival each year, but I'm trying to find more to go to before and after that. Anyone know where I can find pow wow info for the close-to-Philly region? I'm gonna look around, but some tips would be cool. THANKS A BUNCH!!

**badmaninc** · 07-24-2005, 08:38 PM

Does that mean you're not sending me the money. Dude, I hope you realize I was just playin. Unless you took me serious and have a cheque made out already. I have no shame and I would accept it.

fightingoneself · 07-25-2005, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badmaninc

Does that mean you're not sending me the money. Dude, I hope you realize I was just playin. Unless you took me serious and have a cheque made out already. I have no shame and I would accept it.

No, I knew you were playin. I just took it as attitude. took it a little to personal. won't happen again. and trust me, I wouldn't have enough money to even pay you half of that. your talking to a broke college student.

Anyways, no problems.

MSWolf49 · 07-26-2005, 02:16 PM

I either find someone to make my regalia except the (what I call the fancies) I know it not a Native expression. I make my own beaded stuff and jewelry to a point. I have done some walking sticks and staffs.( not people on that one HA HA).I do some small leather stuff and bead it. I would love to learn how to do the quill work and wrap feathers better than I do.
I have an idea on how to but I just need to find the supplies to do it.for hair pieces.
I make small dreamcatchers for jewelry type pieces. I have done some things from kits. I finshed my first shawl Inow need to find someone to do the big embroidery by machine or hand of a wolf head and I still would like to add a couple of patches to it.
I just recently made my cousin a leather bag for her sage and I beaded the top of it. It was cool. I have only beaded large things a couple of times. I enjoyed it.
Look at Pow wows don't just buy the first thing you see sometimes you can find regalia on sale there and look on ebay too. sometimes you can find regalia there.
Look around and be picky to find what you want.
Welcome.
Excuse any typos I have had about three hour sleep today. Worked my last last night shiftlast night.

vince_j · 08-03-2005, 03:32 PM

1. What is the judgeing criteria at Pow Wows?

Judges are picked by the Head Judge or Arena Director. They try to select competent members at the PW (maybe a celebrity one here and there). The judge should be familiar with the category or be a dancer as well. They mostly judge from experience. Men usually judge males and Women usually judge females.

Some PWs have points categories on the score sheets -
Outfit Categories: like Hand-Made, Originality, Completeness, Cleanliness;

Dancing: Does the dancer stay with the beat of the drum and stop on time.

Then finally it comes down to personal taste or choice.

2. Does everyone make thier dance clothing for the Pow Wows?

Not all the time, however, most regalia is made by the dancer, but family members can help or you can hire a seamstress. If you want to compete and win, you'll need to invest alot of money, time, and energy.

3. How do you know the dances? choreographed steps? improvisation?

Dance steps come from tribal styles. For instance, if your Pawnee, you dance a certain way. If your Lakota, then you dance a very different way. So in a way, it's choregraphed improvisation. You find what you're physically capable of and make the style your own using tribal styles as a background.

If you've learned other things from reading posts on this site, please add them to this thread so others can read them.

07-23-2005, 01:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
fightingoneself No Day But Today Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Jersey Posts: 84	complete novice, looking for help I was kinda nervous about posting here. I've posted as a novice to other things before on other sites, and got compleatly trashed, so please believe I post here with most sincere curiosity. I recently found out about my native american heratige and have been to only one or two pow wows in my life, as a spectator (when I was pretty young). I want to learn as much as I can of this part of my heratige. I want to be able to go to a Pow Wow and fully understand what's going on. I want to learn everything about the culture from a personal point of view. I know I can look online, but getting it from a personal perspective is totally different. I apologize if that seemed compleatly and utterly corny. I just have a few questions that I couldn't find answers for on this site. 1. What is the judgeing criteria at Pow Wows? 2. Does everyone make thier dance clothing for the Pow Wows? 3. How do you know the dances? choreographed steps? improvisation? I'm sure there are other questions, but my mind is drawing a blank. I'll post them later. I would greatly appriciate any help. Again, please have mercy on a curiouse novice. __________________ Those who say they know themselves, are lying. life is chaos personified "NO DAY BUT TODAY!" "ACT UP FIGHT AIDS!"

07-23-2005, 01:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
fightingoneself No Day But Today Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Jersey Posts: 84	ha ha yeah, ha ha. is that how you get your kicks? picking on the new person? __________________ Those who say they know themselves, are lying. life is chaos personified "NO DAY BUT TODAY!" "ACT UP FIGHT AIDS!"

07-23-2005, 10:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
ChrissyRedhorn Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Pine Hill, NJ Posts: 92	Welcome to the group Where in NJ are you located?? Im in Camden County __________________

07-24-2005, 03:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
fightingoneself No Day But Today Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Jersey Posts: 84	thanks First, I'm from Burlington County second, I normally have a (shall I admit) so so sense of humor. working on that though. As I mentioned, I've tryed to get in on other sites for other things and was compleatly shut out and burned. I was not sure how to approch this situation, and I guess I still take things a little to personal. lightening up is a constent work in progress, but I think it will be much better now I know everyone is great here. third, I will definantly check out everything I can on this site. I have one more question though. I was looking though the list of schedualed Pow Wows in Jersey for the rest of this year. How come Jersey has almost none?! or am I not lookin in the right place? There is a reservation near my house that has a semi-annual arts festival each year, but I'm trying to find more to go to before and after that. Anyone know where I can find pow wow info for the close-to-Philly region? I'm gonna look around, but some tips would be cool. THANKS A BUNCH!! __________________ Those who say they know themselves, are lying. life is chaos personified "NO DAY BUT TODAY!" "ACT UP FIGHT AIDS!"

07-26-2005, 02:16 PM	#12 (permalink)
MSWolf49 Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 47	regarding the POW WOW question I either find someone to make my regalia except the (what I call the fancies) I know it not a Native expression. I make my own beaded stuff and jewelry to a point. I have done some walking sticks and staffs.( not people on that one HA HA).I do some small leather stuff and bead it. I would love to learn how to do the quill work and wrap feathers better than I do. I have an idea on how to but I just need to find the supplies to do it.for hair pieces. I make small dreamcatchers for jewelry type pieces. I have done some things from kits. I finshed my first shawl Inow need to find someone to do the big embroidery by machine or hand of a wolf head and I still would like to add a couple of patches to it. I just recently made my cousin a leather bag for her sage and I beaded the top of it. It was cool. I have only beaded large things a couple of times. I enjoyed it. Look at Pow wows don't just buy the first thing you see sometimes you can find regalia on sale there and look on ebay too. sometimes you can find regalia there. Look around and be picky to find what you want. Welcome. Excuse any typos I have had about three hour sleep today. Worked my last last night shiftlast night.

07-23-2005, 05:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
badmaninc PowWows.com Addicts Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Saanich Tribes, B.C. Posts: 3,087	Dude, I will help you but you have to send money first. Send me a cheque for $1,000.00. LOL

07-23-2005, 06:09 PM	#4 (permalink)
kgirl7 Hola! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: AZ Posts: 336	Badmaninc was just teasing ya, and i'll be honest i was tempted to give ya a little ribbing, but not with mal-intent. I see you've joined this month, you might want to take some time and read through the threads on this site, and the archives. A lot of what you ask can be found there, and check out the humor section too. Reading through the threads should also clear things up a bit about why people react the way they do.

07-24-2005, 08:38 PM	#10 (permalink)
badmaninc PowWows.com Addicts Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Saanich Tribes, B.C. Posts: 3,087	Does that mean you're not sending me the money. Dude, I hope you realize I was just playin. Unless you took me serious and have a cheque made out already. I have no shame and I would accept it.

08-03-2005, 03:32 PM	#13 (permalink)
vince_j To'di'cheeni / Taa'ba'haa Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Tampa Posts: 97	The short and sweet answers! 1. What is the judgeing criteria at Pow Wows? Judges are picked by the Head Judge or Arena Director. They try to select competent members at the PW (maybe a celebrity one here and there). The judge should be familiar with the category or be a dancer as well. They mostly judge from experience. Men usually judge males and Women usually judge females. Some PWs have points categories on the score sheets - Outfit Categories: like Hand-Made, Originality, Completeness, Cleanliness; Dancing: Does the dancer stay with the beat of the drum and stop on time. Then finally it comes down to personal taste or choice. 2. Does everyone make thier dance clothing for the Pow Wows? Not all the time, however, most regalia is made by the dancer, but family members can help or you can hire a seamstress. If you want to compete and win, you'll need to invest alot of money, time, and energy. 3. How do you know the dances? choreographed steps? improvisation? Dance steps come from tribal styles. For instance, if your Pawnee, you dance a certain way. If your Lakota, then you dance a very different way. So in a way, it's choregraphed improvisation. You find what you're physically capable of and make the style your own using tribal styles as a background. If you've learned other things from reading posts on this site, please add them to this thread so others can read them. __________________ "We who are clay blended by the Master Potter, come from the kiln of Creation in many hues. How can people say one skin is colored, when each has its own coloration? What should it matter that one bowl is dark and the other pale, if each is of good design and serves its purpose well." ~~~Polingaysi Qoyawayma, Hopi~~~

08-03-2005, 10:52 PM	#14 (permalink)
Usdigvhi Little Wildcat Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 374	re