Bay Mills drum contest

[loonsfoote]

Something strange going on here. First, the drum rules state that any rules can be altered, deleted or changed at any time during the weekend. Why have rules????

Next thing, the same judges are used for every song judged. ****, they're going to judge the same way each time.

The judges are related or sing with two of the drum groups. One of the groups is practically hometown. The judges are hometown. WTF??

Maybe something different will happen today so that the contest at least appears to be fair.

[ndneyez]

I don't know exactly how this contest was run but I heard the same complaints from other singers. That was a "different" rule. By the way, I am NOT affiliated with any of the singing groups. I do serve on a committee for a different Michigan pow-wow.
I guess the only thing I found "different" was announcing who held the top 5 positions for the drum contest on Saturday night. I thought that was very disheartening and extremely discouraging to all of the groups that weren't in the top 5. I didnt agree with that at all. As a dancer I was thinking......if I was dancing contest and they announced the top 3 dancers at the end of the day and I wasnt in there DISCOURAGING!!!
I dont know....like I said, I'm not a singer and I dont know the logic behind the decisions that were made but I heard lots of complaints about these two things.

[loonsfoote]

This is how it went.
Young Guns
Smokeytown
Tha Tribe
Redstone Ojibway
Bearheart
Snake Island
Eagle Flight

The judges were basically the same for Sunday. Hometown. The contest results were determined by 4-5 guys. Five songs judged- I think. Friday night, there was a grand entry. Points were awarded for the dancers. Exhib. and GE points. Drums got no points. Don't know why, they advertised a 7 o'clock GE with points starting on Friday.
Redstone & Young Guns didn't show on Friday. Maybe that's why there was no drum points that day. Maybe another reason why the head drum judge had the authority to change, alter, delete or add rules as the weekend progressed.
The adult categories got to pick their drum for their 2nd contest song. Smokeytown got selected most of the time. In fact, they sang almost every other song on Sunday. Bearheart, Eagle Flight, Snake Island and Tha Tribe all got picked for 1-2 contest songs. Dancers never selected Young Guns or Redstone Ojibwe not once.
The drum judges heard something entirely different than all the adult dancers.

This is what happened. All you singers can determine if you want to go there next year.

[chip]

the biggest problem I had with the whole contest, was that the pw chairman, his brother, the head drum judge, and basically their friends ran and judged the singing contest. The head drum judge, who is also a state trooper, didn't know how to run a singing contest to begin with, and after every round of judging, the judges would come together and compare each other's scores. it looked like they were co-ordinating each drum's overall scores which looked very shady. crazy stuff!

[itsmebadoink]

Where is Young gunz from? MI?

[Kiwehnzii]

I must say - Smokeytown sounded good. Yeah, the dancers loved 'em. Along with his regular crew, Myron picked up some good quality singers. About twelve guys. They shoulda had it, but.........

There was some good tunes.

[bmicpowwow]

No pow-wow is perfect. But I believe the committee (yes, made up of community members) held fairness of the competition in high regard. I have never been to a pow-wow (I have been to plenty) where there wasn't some kind of complaint about the results, or the way it was run. As for the drum judges being the same individuals, that is true (one was replaced for Sunday's session to maintain the integrity of the competition). It seems to me (I have competed for drum money as well) that rotating judges brings about the same (if not more) level of complaints as the system used in Bay Mills. Switching the judges will be considered for next years' pow-wow, but I don't think any of the judges were unfair. The scorecards used for the drum competition were detailed and complete. Each lead was judged, tempo, appropriateness of song, etc. A drum had to have their stuff together to score well. Which simply means, Drums competing at Bay Mills were scored on their effort, not their name or reputation. Afterward, the head drum judge retrieved all cards and examined them for fairness and consistency. For instance, if someone scored a drum with a "10" in a category when all else scored a "4" for an obvious mistake, the head drum judge would question that judge. No points were changed. Drums DID receive points for Friday's session. Therefore, those drums that showed on Saturday were already at a point disadvantage. The allegation that some of the judges were related to members of a drum is also true. However, that drum did not even score in the top 3, and the other judges points were consistent. Finding people NOT related to participants in a pow-wow is difficult (we are a community of family members!). However, this will be reconsidered for next years' event. In closing, I would add that participants in our competitions are our guests, as such, I think it highly irregular for members of a drum to question, cast allegations and personally attack the hosts. I have been to several competitions and I would never think to cast stones like some of our competitors did. I have the utmost respect for all our participants and I hope to see them in future events at Bay Mills. We will consider changing many aspects of our competition to improve upon fairness. We appreciate all suggestions. Miigwetch!

[bevreader]

Bay Mills Powwow

Just to make a correction.. Friday night Redstone Ojibway was participating at the powwow

[Shingwauk]

Just to make a correction.. Friday night Redstone Ojibway was participating at the powwow

[RedShield]

Where is Young gunz from? MI?

If I'm not mistaken, I think Young Gunz is from Ontario, but not 100% sure.

[SINGER4EVA]

Good powwow. Excellent scoring system. Don't change a thing.

There has been only two powwows that I know of that have a fair contest. Rhode Island & Bay Mills. Keep up the good work. We'll be back!

[bevreader]

Good powwow. Excellent scoring system. Don't change a thing.

There has been only two powwows that I know of that have a fair contest. Rhode Island & Bay Mills. Keep up the good work. We'll be back!

[**Summer_June**]

yeah, young gunz are a bunch of guys from ontario

[The_HULK]

Good powwow. Excellent scoring system. Don't change a thing.

There has been only two powwows that I know of that have a fair contest. Rhode Island & Bay Mills. Keep up the good work. We'll be back!

Isn't the Rhode Island pow-wow the other pow-wow that Young Gunz has placed first at?!?!

LOL

What a coincidence! The only fair pow-wows are where a group like Young Gunz wins at. Hmmm, must be something wrong with the system for sure.

[ndneyez]

Isn't the Rhode Island pow-wow the other pow-wow that Young Gunz has placed first at?!?!

LOL

What a coincidence! The only fair pow-wows are where a group like Young Gunz wins at. Hmmm, must be something wrong with the system for sure.