Thunderbird pw winners?

[Powwowhoney4life]

This thread has been a real topic of discussion. Many people that I have heard talking about it agree with what the AD did. Mainly because he was doing his job and did what was asked of him. People that I have asked about that particular situation- (young dancer going to dance during a song to exhibition) have said that they would have expected the same outcome. I guess it just depends on who you talk to.

[jingle-babygirl]

i see nothing wrong with the young girls exhibitioning with us during exhilbition...not during contest....cause i know that i am trying to concerate on my moves and i don't want to run into a young one because i couldn't see them....i know that she was taught to dance with the jinglers but there is a time and place and i guess at that time it wasn't the right time!!

[quapawgirl]

It is not about "showcasing", nor is it about competition, if you read my post correctly you would see that there is a responsibility that goes with that dress and only certain songs are sung for that dress. Being as she was asked to represent that tribe, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, by their ceremonial leader...then she has the right to dance those songs.
If you don't understand that dress and that dance and where it comes from, then you are NOT knowledgeable of the arena and all aspects of it especially when you have that particular category dancing. That is what is upsetting, is that when you have an arena director, he should be knowledgeable of all aspects of the arena, all categories and their history and what songs are representative of that category. Had my husband been there, he would have stopped the whole pow wow, paid the drum and addressed the northern people who know this dance and acknowledge what had taken place in the arena.
The arena is not for competition only, but for representation of the dances we are striving to keep strong. Exhibitioning is not disruptive to the competing dancers and as you have seen in the previous post, most of them know who is exhibitioning and respect it. This has discouraged my daughter and we are taking her back to Minnesota next week and have the elders encourage her again in this dance. A few of the people who saw, came and encouraged her since they know her from the pow wow trail, Sheldon Sundown being one of them, he is from New York and very knowledgeable of the traditional ways. So, it was not a big deal to some, but it was to our family.