Hip Hop & Pow Wows Collide?

[dancingfancy]

Check out this article: -Hip Hop & Pow Wows Collide -


Santa Fe – Early this year a video of two unidentified young females dancing at an outdoor pow-wow in their regalia, hip-hop style, was circulated among Native Americans all over the nation. Since then, their dancing has been the center of controversy among pow-wow goers.


In the video, the astonished audience in the background watch the two girls shake their bottoms to the ground as if they were in a nightclub. Moreover, one young woman dancing in her jingle dress performs a split like a teenage cheerleader and bounces on the ground.


The CHRONICLE gathered reaction to the dancing from across Indian country.


“Native American dances in general do not have outwardly sexual or dance movements that mimic sexual intimacy,” said Tamara Francis, cultural preservation specialist of the Caddo, Delaware, Pawnee, and Muskogee tribes.


Chuck Butzin, visitor service representative of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways, who is part Ojibway and part-German from Mt. Pleasant, Mich., said, “The girl shouldn’t be in that dress while dancing in that manner. The dress was given to us (Ojibway) for healing purposes, not to shake your booty in it. The dress has a story behind it that she should respect.”............
(((The rest of the article/pictures and video footage can be read and viewed here at this link: http://www.iaiachronicle.org/archives/HipHopPowWows.htm )))

[bushy_braids]

just for clarification...

people draw conclusions way too quickly and take things out of porportion

i know exactly what video you're talkin' bout and along w/the e-mail was something like "how ndns on the east coast powwow" and that was wrong...

the story behind it is this:
the group that hosts certain powwows in ny and nj have dance competitions during their breaks. they play rap music and have the ndns dance like they're in the club and then they play powwow music and have the spectators dance like ndns. that's where the booty shakin' video and dance came from.
everyone gets out there and shakes a tail feather and laughs at each other and who ever gets the most cheers, of course wins.

i'm not saying it's right for the girl to go out there and shake her booty and do the splits and this and that... but that's what she chose to do in her outfit in the powwow circle during a special dance that was held probably during a break.

what can ya do?

i've also seen many edgy videos of switch dancers doing the same thing, but not as many people were outraged... what's the difference if its all in fun? i guess it's how the people choose to act up in attempts to win...

[kneegrow_native]

i've also seen many edgy videos of switch dancers doing the same thing, but not as many people were outraged... what's the difference if its all in fun? i guess it's how the people choose to act up in attempts to win...

This is a really good point. I have seen many guys dress up in jingle dresses and get crazy dumb and people think it is real funny...and this was out west!

[lclbcook]

yeah what can u do. todays younger generation just makes a mockery out of our culture, and people see that and think its cute. its sad.

[kgirl7]

I didn't like the dance in the jingle dress but I thought the fancy dress was fine. I've seen male switch dancers put on a jingle dress and dance and behave 10 times worse.

[tsuj510]

I didn't like the dance in the jingle dress but I thought the fancy dress was fine. I've seen male switch dancers put on a jingle dress and dance and behave 10 times worse.

Yeah, but thats different-both those dances are sacred, but for different reasons. I guess you gotta look for the good and bad in a thing like that, you know? Yeah, they might be acting up a bit, in sacred clothes, but we have always had sacred clowns and wintkes and they are sacred too. such-contridictions if you will-the profane and the sacred side-by-side... Just a bit of each in both, innit?

It all works out; as long as its done in fun and not mocking others who may be different from ourselves. If I hear another Brokeback joke during a Switch dance.... that's annoying...

[kgirl7]

Yeah, but thats different-both those dances are sacred, but for different reasons. I guess you gotta look for the good and bad in a thing like that, you know? Yeah, they might be acting up a bit, in sacred clothes, but we have always had sacred clowns and wintkes and they are sacred too. such-contridictions if you will-the profane and the sacred side-by-side... Just a bit of each in both, innit?

It all works out; as long as its done in fun and not mocking others who may be different from ourselves. If I hear another Brokeback joke during a Switch dance.... that's annoying...

"We" meaning which tribe? From what I understand the jingle dress has very specific and sacred origins from the Ojibwe people different from the fancy shawl dress. Plus the girl in the fancy shawl dress isn't gyrating or booty-poopin. She's doing a the "perculator" and then the "heel toe" lol. I'm not going to pretend that I even know half of what the jingle dress means to the Ojibwe people, but do I know enough to know it wasn't given for booty shaking and for men to dress up in it and act all sexy-like.

[n8iveFancii43]

ok, well i have to STRONGLY disagree with you on that one. i for one and as well as many of my friends on the trail do NOT make a mockery out of the culture. we simply like to have fun. that is not a crime and it does not mean that we do not respect our culture. we are simply trying to have fun while learning our culture. and when it comes to those specials, those are not decided by the youth they are decided by the arena directors and so therefore its not the youth making a mockery its the ADULTS that are making the decision to have some fun as well.

so all i can say is that im sorry that you feel that way. but its not how it is AT ALL.

[StereoTypicalHarley]

now im gonna have to strongly disagree with you. what these girls are doing is wrong, now i also dont know much about jingle or fancy shaw dancing, but i do know they are very sacred things. if they wanna go out and dance like that, thats fine, just dont do it in dance cloths, they are sacred things and should be used for the sacred dances they are intended for. if they want to dance like that, they should do it in their street clothes, i dont think anyone would have any problem with that.

[OneidaDreamer]

Booty Dance Rap is not even on the same Plane of Existance as True Hip-Hop

I"m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with the whole article's use of the term 'HIP-HOP'. I'm 99.99% sure that they weren't shakin their tail feathers to Real Hip-Hop Music out there.

It was RAP Music. A [email protected][email protected] of Hip-Hop Music. For those of you who don't know the difference or may think you do; you'd better stop by my post entitled Hip-Hop Culture Amongst Turtle Islanders.

And if you disagree with me about the intricacies of Rap and Hip-Hop then you obviously don't know what your talking about.






As far as those people doing all that booty dancing out there in the circle. No comment...





Peace O.D.

[Southern Comfort]

yeah what can u do. todays younger generation just makes a mockery out of our culture, and people see that and think its cute. its sad.

lol i don't mean to sound rude but i am part of the younger genaration i don't know of ne kids my age that micks out culture i mean yes some of us may party and do crazy things like that but when it comes down to respecting out culture thats when the tables turn...
me being a young native women i was very disgusted by the way these girls were acting .. i am a jingle dress dancer and one of the things that i learned going through cerimonies and things to become 1 was to respect yourself, your dress, your family and YOUR CULTURE.... the jingle dress dancer was a little bit out of line and as for the men who dance in jingle dresses for a switch dance yes some of them do get a little out of hand but they didn't have to go through the things that us ladies have to do to be able to wear the dress...


but that is all i really have to say....

[Kaina1128]

I"m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with the whole article's use of the term 'HIP-HOP'. I'm 99.99% sure that they weren't shakin their tail feathers to Real Hip-Hop Music out there.

It was RAP Music.
Peace O.D.

actually, it was a remix of a smoke dance song

if I were holding this type of contest i would make sure that no jingle dresses or eagle feathers were worn. i think it's a cool song and a fun idea, but it's always good to take every precaution with sacred items.

i thought this forum was going to be about poems and songs and other creative writing...

[StereoTypicalHarley]

Exactly.

[anishtradish]

unless you were raised in the Ojibwe way, and went through all of the ceremonies, I doubt a person would really understand the meanings of the jingle dress. Even though the jingle dress is sacred to my people, the other tribes who started using them for powwows, didn't adopt the ceremonies and traditions that go along with the dress, so it isn't sacred to them. So I don't think we should really feel offended, because they just adopted a style, they didn't adopt our beliefs with the style, so they aren't really disrespecting anything. Now if they were Ojibwe women, who know what the dress really means, were the ones doing it, then that would be a different situation.

Just simply having or wearing a jingle dress doesn't make it sacred, you have to really go through the ceremonies and understand how to use it the right way, otherwise it's just a plain dress like any other other one. And I doubt many people who aren't Ojibwe really have been through the proper ceremonies for them because not many people even here still have the right ceremonies any more. Sure there are a few who do, but the majority of people with them, just have them for the style.

[Kaina1128]

unless you were raised in the Ojibwe way, and went through all of the ceremonies, I doubt a person would really understand the meanings of the jingle dress. Even though the jingle dress is sacred to my people, the other tribes who started using them for powwows, didn't adopt the ceremonies and traditions that go along with the dress, so it isn't sacred to them.

it's sacred to me and i treat it and the style with the utmost respect.

And I doubt many people who aren't Ojibwe really have been through the proper ceremonies for them because not many people even here still have the right ceremonies any more. Sure there are a few who do, but the majority of people with them, just have them for the style.

Many women who ARE Ojibwe haven't done all of the traditional ceremonies. There are people who dance in every style that don't respect it properly. Just because I am not Ojibwe does not make me disrespectful or ignorant. I chose this style because it resonated most with my character, beliefs, and capabilities.

You shouldn't make such blanket statements like that, it can be very hurtful to those who are exceptions to your supposed "rule". I have danced since I was very young. The more I learn to appreciate the dress and its dance, the more I desire to be initiated into a jingle dress society. I realize that it will take a lot for me to get to a place where I can even begin the process, but my Ojibwe friends are helping me through it all.

Now, in regard to these young women, modesty and humility are values held in each style of dance. That type of dancing is not acceptable in the arena. The fact that one had on a healing dress makes it even worse. They and the people encouraging them need to reconsider why they gather for dances.