Native Profile – Warren Craig Queton

Native Profile – Warren Craig Queton

Name
Warren Craig Queton

Tribes
Kiowa, Seminole and Cherokee

Nickname
Chalak'ee, Grandpa

Dance Style
Southern Straight

Where are you originally from?

Fort Worth, TX

What's your upcoming Pow Wow schedule?
Oct 8-9, Kiowa Black Leggings Ceremonial
Oct 29, Kiowa Tia-piah Society Halloween Pow-wow

Where do you currently live?
Blanchard, OK

What is your favorite Pow Wow?
Cherokee Holiday, Tahlequah OK
Otoe Encampment, Red Rock, OK
University of Oklahoma Spring Pow-wow
Kiowa Tia-piah Society Annual Ceremonies, Carnegie, OK

 

Who is your favorite Native American drum?
Cozad
Wild band of Comanches
Thunder Hill

What other Native American dancers do you admire?
George Tah-bone Sr.
Ronnie Harris
Nelson White
Floyd Moses
Ronnie Goodeagle Sr.

Ralph Haymond
AJ Leadingfox
Otto Hamilton

What transportation do you use to get to Pow Wow?
For major trips I utilize the airlines but for small day drives I use my personal vehicle.

Will gas prices or other obligations affect your pow-wow schedule?
Yes, the price of gas and food has risen considerably and will continue to do so in this economic recession.  I love to travel and pow-wow but I also maintain a home that requires me to pay bills and purchase food.  I work a full time job as an academic counselor at the University of Oklahoma Upward Bound Program.  I also serve in the Oklahoma National Guard one weekend of every month so that cuts down on my pow-wow time as well.

What's your favorite music?
I am an eclectic music listener.  I love all types from rock and roll to jazz, pow-wow and Native American music to some flute music.  I would have to say my favorite music are the jazz crooners type of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday, Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney, Sammy Davis Jr.  I enjoy hearing their songs and watching their style.

What other skills do you have?
I am working on my masters in Applied Linguistic Anthropology at OU.  I sing Kiowa Church Hymns and NAC songs.  I like being a homemaker, cooking and keep a neat house.  I write poetry and short stories as well.

What's your day job?
I am an Academic Coordinator for the Sooner Upward Bound program. I work with 50 low income, first generation high school student from five Oklahoma City inner city public schools.

What do you like to do when not at a Pow Wow?
Hunting and Fishing

Favorite food?
Italian Food

What advice would you give young Native American people that look up to you?
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Man in the Arena Poem

What's your advice for other Native American dancers?
Don't dance to impress others or think your going to win but dance for those people who enjoy watching you.  Maybe someone out there can't walk or dance and so seeing you in the arena giving it all you got makes them feel good.  Dance from your heart and your spirit and people will get a blessing from it.

What is your most memorable Pow Wow moment?
My most memorable pow-wow moments come from dancing with my grandfathers.

What is your Pow Wow Pet Peeve?
Smelly Indian Clothes and people that play around in the arena.

What do you wish you could take out of Pow Wows?
Giveaways because they take a long time and sometimes kill the spirit of the dance.  Plus I wish I could get rid of  MC Bad Jokes.

Last Updated on December 13, 2023 by Paul G


3 Comments on “Native Profile – Warren Craig Queton”

  • Avatar for Lydia N. Follette

    Lydia N. Follette

    says:

    hello my name is Lydia i am Nelson White’s granddaughter i just thought that i would say that i really liked that you named him in the dancers that you admire. I’ve been thinkin alot about him lately and i moved up here to montana about 4 years ago and i don’t have any pictures of him…so i was scanning the internet hoping that someone had posted an old video of him dancing at one of the pow-wows. i miss watching him dance. anyway i just wanted to share that. And let you know i am glad that someone else remembers him.

  • Avatar for WhoMe

    WhoMe

    says:

    One thing Warren failed to mention in this interview is he is the headsman of a modern ceremonial society called the Kiowa Tia-Piah Society of Carnegie. This ancient warrior society has been carried into modern times by the Kiowa. Warren is a true warrior and veteran of the Iraqi Conflict. Thank you http://www.powwows.com for featuring Warren as a representative of the gourd dance tradition!

  • Avatar for NancyJo

    NancyJo

    says:

    A big Texas hello to Warren!!! I watched you grow up around the D/FW pow wow circle and it is awesome to see all that you have accomplished so far in life and your work.
    We sat in the awning next to the awning your folks sat in this past weekend at the Eagle Mountain Intertribal pow wow. Your Dad invited my son to sit with him in the shade of their canopy (ours was still in the sun at that time)during the gourd dance. Very very kind of him. We have always admired your Mom and Dad and all that they do for people……and I see that you are also following in their footsteps. The D/FW area people are very proud of you!!

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