hobbs49

About a week ago, I was talking with SmokeEater and he's talking about going to Pawhuska. SmokeEater's getting ready to be shipped out so I thought it might be a hoot to meet up with him there. So I decide then and there to head out to OK. It was my first trip out since the late 70's except for driving through. I got some cheap tickets, asked around PW.com to see what else might be going on and made some plans.

Friday couldn't come soon enough and I was on my way to Pawhuska for the Friday night session. Man, it was fantastic. You know, I do my reading, and listening to tapes/CD, and I talk with people in or who visit OK a lot, but there is just nothing like going to an OK powwow. This was my first man's dance and I was floored. There was just so much to see and hear. I went back to Pawhuska on Saturday for both sessions. The sun even came out on Saturday afternoon and evening. It was really interesting!

I could have stayed with Pawhuska, but since this was my first trip in so long, I really wanted to try several types of dances while I was there. I also wanted to meet Josiah and NDNKIDZ so I headed down to Norman and the Tunderbird Casino contest powwow on Sunday. This was second day of this dance I think. The day started with some gourd dancing with music provided by the Cozads. The dance started out slow but built nicely by the dinner break. Apparently the night before there were so many dancers in arena that grand entry was difficult. So since the sun had been shining, and the ground had a little time to dry, they decided to move the Sunday night dance outside. It was a good dance, with about six drums and many, many dancers. I stayed through all of the women's categories but thought I should leave as I had a plane to catch the next morning in Tulsa.

Going with my diversity theme, I had also hoped to be able to attend the first day of the Tia-Piah at Chieftain Park. However, the weather caused that to be postponed. So I moved my flight from Tuesday to Monday. Had the Tia-Piah not been moved, it would have been a dream weekend. But hey, now I've got an excuse to go back.

So my advice to anyone is that if you want to see some good dancing and hear some real kickin singing, a trip to OK is definately a must! People have been telling me that for a long time, but now that I've finally done it, I agree with them! It doesn't have to be a long trip, even a weekend will do, if you decide early what you want to do and then do it. Even with all the rain and mud it was an excellent trip!

I should probablyl mention, I never got up with SmokeEater. He had ben back in NC for couple of weeks and had to get ready to report back on Monday. So he was really busy which is cool. I hope he remembers to keep his armor on and his driver alert while he's over sweating in the sand!

ok24stacey

I wanted to come out to T-Bird so bad on Sunday. Saturday would have been awesome had it not been inside. There were so many dancers, it was impressive. Hopefully on your next tour to Okieville I can catch ya out and about.

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To live is the rarest thing in the World. Most people just exist, that is all.

Tiki

I was at the pow wow in norman on sunday as well. We were one of the few light skinned families sitting in the bleachers.

Josiah

We enjoyed your company and look forward to when you can come out again!!!
The Dance at Chieftain turned out to be a good one again this year.
We set up camp and enjoyed ourselves immensly
Too bad the rain forced it to be moved one day you missed a great opportunity
They featured during the Day session all Gourd songs with words no vocables! It was awesome!!!
Hope to see you back next year!

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hobbs49

Sure Josiah! Rub it in... Well there's always next time! Hopefully it won't be so long in between visits though.