hello everyone :)

[Cairistiona]

Hello!
My legal name is Gretchen, but I go mostly by Cairistiona or Cairis, and will answer to any of them lol. I'm 30, live in SW Missouri with my husband, our 5 Cats (our masters) and our Corgi (the comic relief)..

I hate telling my reason for being interested in Powwow's and NDN (am I allowed to use that here? ) culture and such, because it sounds so.. i don't know.. hokey? But, as I've been interested as long as I can remember, here it goes..lol

It's the old tried and true tale of Family Stories and Legend, that can never be confirmed because there is no documentation.
According to my Mother, her Great Grandmother (maternal side all the way) was of the Cherokee Nation (not a princess or anything silly like that ). She was not allowed to sign her name to the Dawes Rolls because her husband said she would not ever need anything that would come from it. I have her name, and a picture, and that is all.

When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, mom took my little brother and I to a small Powwow near our home here in Missouri.. I remember hearing the drums, and the singers, and seeing the dancers in the light of the bonfire and.. even as an 8 or 9 year old girl I felt drawn to it.
I remember being in school the next week, and talking to my teacher about going, and he asked if I could make a 'peace-pipe' for our history class. It was nothing more than drinking straws and a small paper cup that I decorated with those smelley markers and a button and a feather stolen from a feather duster.. I'm not sure if that was something i should have made or not, but I remember being so very proud of it..

In the 20 years since then, I've only felt the pull more and more, to the point of it being darned near painful, and it's always the drums. the music that pull at me.
I want to go, to learn what I can from observing, and if someone is willing to talk to me, all the better, but I don't want to make a fool of myself (or worse) when I do this. I'm not asking to be adopted or anything like that, I just... I'm an open mind who wants to know, wants to learn..

So.. yeah.. there ya go.. Please be kind... lol :)
And if there is anything I left out (is that possible?) that you might want to know, please just ask!

Peace and Blessings to all
Cairis

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

hello ,
well you belong to a large group of ppl that seem to be left behind , it has happened to a lot of us light blood ppl who have little or no understanding of who we come from
out reach is not very forth coming, unless you go and help others that might need a hand, also ,be your self , understand that you can learn from being quite ,be careful for ppl who say they know and don't have the family to stand with ..go to powwows with a Shaw and not on your cycle respect others and see where you can live and be real with whats left to you .
Native American is not all drums and powwows lol but a way of being that is in you, its choice and deliberate ideals.
and this can be confused with a white gurl trying to be watobe...it a fine line we walk .. lastly but not least enjoy the life giving to you, honer your family passed with moving forward to live as well and you can..my grand mothers lived in the beginning of 1900 and they knew little of who they came from but what was in there blood soo what do we have but a part of a grater picture of ppl who lived and died in a ere of extermination, and a question i ask my self did they survive in us in part or wholly?

so it up to you to live a life worthy of the honer of a fine blood line .
a liken it to Christ he lived and died for a reason but the picture i want you to see is it was a long time ago but in the this time many ppl follow his teaching ,
also Native Americans have lived a long time ago too but the teaching are follow still today, with the symbolism in tacked too,carrying on the teaching is what make a culture intact to *******ized it don't make any sence...that's why you have to make your understanding true or its nothing at all but a light blood line that will fade even more in the next child borne
i hope you can receive this, if not time will cure.

[storyteller]

Welcome to the site. Lots of good people here, and a lot of information too. Happy posting!

[Cairistiona]

Thanks for the welcome!
One question though 2lineCarrandMorgan.. when you say Shaw, do you mean a shawl?.. sorry.. work was a nightmare and my mind is a little sprained this evening..

I try to live my life doing as little harm as i can manage. of course being human that doesn't always work terribly well, but i keep trying.. lol
I know that it's not all drums and music and ceremony, but all in how you live, and the kind of life you show to others..

I do also try to honor all sides of my heritage.. which can get kind of interesting what with the Irish/Scottish/British/French/German/Dutch all swimming along in my veins right along with the Native American.. I always try to remember that I am a child of my parents, and a child of the Creator/s (by whatever name they are called), no matter what else i might call myself..

I hope t hat made sense...

Thanks again for the welcome!! Looking forward to meeting everyone!

[Josiah]

Thanks for the welcome!
One question though 2lineCarrandMorgan.. when you say Shaw, do you mean a shawl?.. sorry.. work was a nightmare and my mind is a little sprained this evening..

I try to live my life doing as little harm as i can manage. of course being human that doesn't always work terribly well, but i keep trying.. lol
I know that it's not all drums and music and ceremony, but all in how you live, and the kind of life you show to others..

I do also try to honor all sides of my heritage.. which can get kind of interesting what with the Irish/Scottish/British/French/German/Dutch all swimming along in my veins right along with the Native American.. I always try to remember that I am a child of my parents, and a child of the Creator/s (by whatever name they are called), no matter what else i might call myself..

I hope t hat made sense...

Thanks again for the welcome!! Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Welcome and hope you enjoy your time here
Yes 2line meant Shawl

Powwows are a place of gathering and mean many things to folks depending on what part of the country you are talking about
Of course the Cherokees are not by tradition powwow people but many of us have been brought in by our friends or relatives...
Our traditional dance is the stompdance and are held throughout eastern Oklahoma not just by us but many others also

You are fortunate for just just down the Freeway about a hours drive is a little place we call Oklahoma and just over the border in Miami or Quapaw or Seneca many different Powwows are held throught out the year.
I would suggest going to these dances they are informal dress in confortable clothes
Bring your own chair and some cold drinks
and sit and watch
get there early and you will have a good view
Plan on leaving late because they will contest well into the late evening

I suggest you read the FAQ that Paul G has put together for firsttimers to powwows
It has alot of good information that will help you understand what is going on
And not embaress your self

Have a good time

[Cairistiona]

Thanks so much!!
I'm hoping to be able to make it to at least one powwow in OK before the end of the year.. hafta get the car running again first though lol

The Shawl that was mentioned.. I have a couple of plain cloth cloaks.. would those do (at least to begin with), or would I need to find/make an actual shawl first?
Sorry for lots of questions..lol I really don't want to get there and make a fool of myself, or annoy everyone there..

[Josiah]

Thanks so much!!
I'm hoping to be able to make it to at least one powwow in OK before the end of the year.. hafta get the car running again first though lol

The Shawl that was mentioned.. I have a couple of plain cloth cloaks.. would those do (at least to begin with), or would I need to find/make an actual shawl first?
Sorry for lots of questions..lol I really don't want to get there and make a fool of myself, or annoy everyone there..

Actually I would learn to crawl first before trying to walk
The Shawl is not needed for spectators and I suggest that the first few times you just go and observe
The Shawl is only needed for somebody that is stepping in the arena to dance during intertribals for examp;e

[Cairistiona]

Actually I would learn to crawl first before trying to walk
The Shawl is not needed for spectators and I suggest that the first few times you just go and observe
The Shawl is only needed for somebody that is stepping in the arena to dance during intertribals for examp;e

Ah! Ok!! Thanks for that..lol

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

yes good words Josiah, and yes Cairistiona i don't spell very well lol but im glad you got my drift, and when you get ready to get or make a shawl there are threads about making a shawl or lots of ppl who make nice ones too,the first few years worth of powwows i went to, i did not have one afer a few years i was incourage to have one so with some trading and good ppl around me i have one now... i have been barting with a master craftman who is going to finish the dezing befor nov this year it coust me a car and insurance and two new tires with regestrantin lol
im very happy with the deal he is my friend as well as friend with with troudo, banks and meny others yes hes a old timer, spent time with these guys at the begeing of the aim days , but i could not be happyer with the deal

.so welcome to powwows.com

[Joe G]

Hi Christina....rare to see Gaelic spellings these days.

[Cairistiona]

Hi Christina....rare to see Gaelic spellings these days.

lol!
If only it was truly mine.. I've used this name for many many years online, and in other things.. Most folks that I know-even in real life-call me Cairis as opposed to Gretchen or Gret.. which is fine by me! I never really fit my name..

Thanks for the welcome too :)