sunkato

If you weren't 40, but close, would you round up your age to dance in the 40 & over category?????????

sunkato

Does anybody know anyone who's done this? Danced in this age category when they were way young? What about rounding up to Golden Age???

ndnsooner

I've waited patiently to get into that category and this is finally the year to dance 40+..... hahaha.....

Joe's Dad

Sitting here just thinking what it would be like to be 40 again!!!

I gotta go now.

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badmaninc

Dude, I thought you already dancing in senior golden age category! AYE

Chilimama

Just recently I heard of a couple of women who have rounded up their age to dance in the Golden Age category. They cheated the real golden agers out of either winning or placing. My question is, how come the other women didn't call them on it. And I think all the pow wow committees need to see proof of age.

veritasxl

I hear you Chilimama, that happens here in Cali a lot with both men and women. They size up the competition then decide which catagory they'll dance in.

One well know lady dances in the same catagory with her daughter unless there is real competition from an out of state dancer. Then she'll dance with Golden age which is were she should be. One problem is that some PW commitees don't pay the same for Golden Age as they do the Women/Men catagory. I've also seen elderly men size up the No. Tradish/Southern Straight contests, then win, not because they were the best, but because everyone was afraid to 'dis' them in front of younger dancers.

V

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Civilzation has been thrust upon me..and it has not added one whit to my love for truth, honesty, and generosity Chief Luther Standing Bear

ndneyez

I have to comment on this one. I was on our pow-wow commitee this year for the first year. I'm also a dancer and know how old SOME of the people really are. All I can say is the registration process is madness!!....lol We were well organized but it's impossible to check every single person's I.D. to confirm their ages. Especially when you get a slew of people that come to register 10 minutes before it's closed. Fellow dancers do need to speak up and let the commitee and head judges know if something is not right.

We had a situation where a dancer tried to register in the older category. She came to us on her own and explained that her birthday was days away BUT to be fair we made her dance in the correct category. One exception wipes out the whole rule! Needless to say she was really mad but I figured we did her a favor. If her age were to come into question then we would have had to take her prize money had she won. I think that would of have been pretty embarrassing for her had somebody said something.

FOr this reason, we make sure EVERY rule is initialed. We make sure they know the consequnces and they sign saying it is understood. So, should the event come up.......they can't say they didn't know.

Anyway.....I know you can't stop it every time but it does help when the committee is alerted.

bahnisiain

i can see if you are a few months away from 40 going into the 40 and over catagory. if you are over 6 months or more away from 40, stay put.

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Wiky Chick

Every dancer should respect the rules of the particular pow wow that they're dancing at.... there should be no exceptions!

Definitely easier that way, if there are any disputes.

I have seen some dancers jump up a division in their category... usually no one says anything, but if there is a dispute... lots of unnecessary negativity.

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Wiky Chick

ndnMSW

My husband danced in a 40 and over men's fancy special when he was 4 days away from turning 40. He asked the people who were registering if he could, or if he needed to be officially 40 to register, explained when his birthdate was, and they told him to go ahead since it was a matter of days....not even a full week. He would have been fine if they said no, and he only asked because I suggested it that he explain to them and let them make the decision. He was ready either way and would have understood if they told him no.

I remember dancing at a bust powwow up in Moose Jaw SASK back in 93, where they had split adult categories. The age split was 17-26 or something real odd like that. Anyway, I knew I was almost the oldest of the shawl dancers my age, but everyone that I knew was either my age or younger registered in the older category. So I did too because I would have felt stupid dancing in the younger category when everyone younger than me was in the older category. My mom was really mad at me for that because one of my good friends was in her 30's and my mom said that I was being disrespectful to my friend by not being honest about my age. So I didn't do that again after that. But that's when I was young and stupid.

It didn't matter anyway because that powwow didn't have their money! they ran out of money by the time they announced the older category and gave out rubber checks. So, if I had stayed in the correct category and had placed, I would have gotten paid....lol.

Ndnsoldierboy

If your younger than 40, you dance in that category...if you aren't you don't. Its that simple. Being honest with yourself must be really hard on people at powwows if they can't handle the truth. Whats the truth? Your age. Stay in your age category. Its too easy. I suppose we'll have someone try to sneak in the tiny tots division next. If you can't handle the competition, stay home, or sit in the stands and watch. There is no honor in the powwow circle if we got Ndns lying about their age.

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