billyjoejimbob

i sang at alot of those ones where they clear out and also rais their fans or fists.

We would make sure we sang a long flag or vet song and watch them slowly lower. sometimes you see them hold their are up with their other arm!

As for the leaving and coming back....we call it the big toilet bowl.

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There are 2 types of people in the world...
Really stupid people who think they are smart
and
Really smart people who think they are smart.

FluteMaker

whats the one with people spinning when they enter or leave the arena?

rafiki

Dey do as the baboon do. Dey follow a baboon dat does not know what it is doing, den all dey see is a baboon a$$.

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Follow Rafiki! He know da' way!

Josiah

I seen the Aztec dudes at a Powwow In Rome
Georgia that is
They danced in the Grand Entry
And they had them dance inbetween intertribals
never seen em before
And probably wont see them at a Powwow here in Oklahoma

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Josiah

I think what amazed me the most when i lived in the southeast for a time
Was the New-age stuff i saw surrounding the Powwow
Lots of feathering and smudging
They had a smudge pot stationed at the opening to the arena
that was surrounded with hay bales marking the arena
No benches for the dancers
During Grand entry they had a guy feathering and smoking away alllllllllll the dancers as they came into the arena.
His arm must of been tired whew!
Too much mystical crap that has no place out in the open like that

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FluteMaker

if you lived in GA for a while then im sure youre familliar with the south eastern cherokee council inc., now theres some cracked crackers. but if you can take it with a grain of salt the size of a brine block they throw a pretty funny powwow substitute. talk about mystical crap

Gledanh Zhinga

Aztec not so Ancient History.

I believe it was in 1958 that the first group of Aztec male dancers came to Oklahoma [and maybe the U.S.]. They made it to a few powwows as a specialty act. There was no singing, just wooden drum signals. The dancers had their big peacock headdresses and they leaped around. No smudging. They were all of quite small stature. They were treated to the utmost, in The Indian Way. They were fed, cared for, and several were given complete straight dance outfits, top to bottom. Later, it was hinted that they had trained in Mexico to be a night club act. Who know's for sure?

Presently, a number of "Aztec" dance groups have cropped up around the U.S., but some of the members are "hobbyists" of a sort. They may have hispanic/Mexican blood, some may have Indio blood. Dare I say "half-Aztec"? Some are so-called Chicanos. Many were born north of the border. The smudging is now part of their dance presentations.

Personally, I am suspicious of Indian dancing without singing. I am suspicious of the tink tink tink choreography. I am suspicious of a public smudge pot in the middle of a show dance.

WhoMe

Gledanh,

I never thought about that..... MEXICAN YAJOOS?

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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

Tom Iron Eagle

At a powwow in OK a woman critizied me for having on some purple. She said only Haudenosaunee could wear purple. Later a few others said the same thing to me - I said WTF?

Come to find out they were a group of about 10 people that hung around this one drum. They were Native I discovered but none of them were Haudenosaunee and several of them had purple in thier clothing. Talk about idiots.

Being Seminole, I have been to several events down here in the South East that use the smudge pot at the East Entrance. I don't mind if they just light it and walk away and just leave it up to dancers if they want to use it or not - it does smell great and adds some abience. But the ones that make a big deal about it and crap - I can do without that.

AND the big one:
It is bad enough when Non-Natives ask these two following questions, but when your own people (Natives) ask you have to wonder what are they thinking. Here are the two questions -

IS THAT REAL? and ARE YOU REAL?

WTF? is that supposed to even mean?

between2worlds

I hafta laugh when I read or hear people saying disperaging stuff about brightly colored leather (specially moccassins - a good Anishnabe word for ya!) - as if only some variation of brown is all that is "gen-u-wine". Pots been coloring leather for a long time - it was something that was noted in the writings of the early missionaries when they went to the Great Lakes region..... lotsa plants and berries make BRIGHT dyes.


My answer to that is "Uhm, no I'm (or it's) a figment of your imagination. Didn't you know that Jimson weed is bad for ya?"

Zorro

cuz it's cheaper, faster, and we can get to the bingo parlor sooner!

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Never lick a steak knife.

anishinabealltheway

Here in Ojib country we do the smudge thing at every traditional powwow. We have been doing it since long before I was born, and will be doing it long after I'm dead, It's the way our elders have taught us. I think we need it more now than before, because of the bad habits some have developed, having big per caps to pay for them. you can not enter our circle unless you smudge. If that bothers you, that's tough. You could always go to a baseball game instead.

PS. Where do you get off calling our traditions new age??? We have been smudging since before Columbus that would make it decidedly OLD AGE!

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Niin sa, Chi anung

anishinabealltheway

I was at one last summer and some white lady was singing the praises of Pig skin opposed to deer hide. I couldn't help but laugh a little. Then she asked that we not laugh at her daughter who had a dress made of the stuff. That's when we really started crackin up. Where would she even stand in the lineup ???

Womans pig skins now entering the arena!!

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Niin sa, Chi anung

FluteMaker