Anyone going to the Choctaw Pow-wow in Durant, OK?

[ok24stacey]

Well that or if you get into making the tabulations and you know that it's not quite shakin out like it should (lol) stop and try something different.

The weather was awful that night, a lot of people had to get hotels outside of Durant because everything was full. Like Josiah and his bunch didn't even make it back to their room til 4am because they stopped and ate. We were lucky to find a room just 3 miles away but by the time we got there we were so tired from doing nothing we just skipped the fun stuff we had hoped to do. hehehe

I remember thinking the MC was mentioning MR's name quite a bit, too. I thought, is he running the whole show or just the arena? (as he should be doing)

[ndnMSW]

Yeah, the weather was a bummer. We were trying so hard to keep the babies warm and dry that our stuff got all wet trying to load it into the van on the way out. I reserved our room at the casino hotel, but that's because I got all excited when I got our flyer in the mail that I made our room reservations that day. But even that was a bummer because we had a non-smoking room that smelled just like a smoking room cuz it was so close to the casino part. Even though we had everything all packed up and waiting to go at the powwow, we still didn't get back to our room until 3am. When we left people were still waiting in the lobby for their checks, which were being printed at the casino, then brought back to the coloseum.

They fed all the dancers and singers supper last year, which they didn't do this year. I missed the pizza that all the Choctaw princesses were walking around handing out last year...lol. I remember eating a piece then getting called for a tie right after that.

The ground was really rough and uneven last year, which made me a little hesitant to try out my foot this year, but it felt like they graded it pretty good before laying the tarp down because it felt pretty even. Pretty soft in one part of the arena, but a big improvement over last year. The sound was as bad as last year though...everyone kept missing the endings to their contest songs because you couldn't hear very well out on the arena floor.

We didn't have trouble with registration because we got there fairly early...learned our lesson from last year...lol. I wondered what the big holdup was with giving out the numbers until I got mine and saw the barcode, my name and dance category printed on it.

You know that saying, "Out of the mouths of babes..." Well, my 3 1/2 year old said as we finally got into the van, "Never again."

That decided it for me...lol.

[ok24stacey]

Yeah, the weather was a bummer. We were trying so hard to keep the babies warm and dry that our stuff got all wet trying to load it into the van on the way out. I reserved our room at the casino hotel, but that's because I got all excited when I got our flyer in the mail that I made our room reservations that day. But even that was a bummer because we had a non-smoking room that smelled just like a smoking room cuz it was so close to the casino part. Even though we had everything all packed up and waiting to go at the powwow, we still didn't get back to our room until 3am. When we left people were still waiting in the lobby for their checks, which were being printed at the casino, then brought back to the coloseum.

They fed all the dancers and singers supper last year, which they didn't do this year. I missed the pizza that all the Choctaw princesses were walking around handing out last year...lol. I remember eating a piece then getting called for a tie right after that.

The ground was really rough and uneven last year, which made me a little hesitant to try out my foot this year, but it felt like they graded it pretty good before laying the tarp down because it felt pretty even. Pretty soft in one part of the arena, but a big improvement over last year. The sound was as bad as last year though...everyone kept missing the endings to their contest songs because you couldn't hear very well out on the arena floor.

We didn't have trouble with registration because we got there fairly early...learned our lesson from last year...lol. I wondered what the big holdup was with giving out the numbers until I got mine and saw the barcode, my name and dance category printed on it.

You know that saying, "Out of the mouths of babes..." Well, my 3 1/2 year old said as we finally got into the van, "Never again."

That decided it for me...lol.

lol, you're 3 year old sounds smart! hehehe.....I go where my crew goes and it didn't sound like they wanted to make the trip back to Durant next year, for sure. lmao

We left after the drums got paid and I know there were a lot of people still waiting when we hit the door and that was 2:15. lol Poor lil ones.....

[ndnMSW]

Did all your stuff have dirt in it when you unpacked? I unpacked my outfit this morning and that dirt from the arena was everywhere...lol. It didn't seem that bad during the day but it must have bothered my eyes because I couldn't get my contacts in on Sunday....had to sport my "beauty" glasses around on Sunday when we stopped at Jimmy's Roundup Cafe in OKC...lol. My eyes are still sore and I'm still sportin beauty glasses at work but I don't even care if I scare anyone at this point.

My 3 year old was such a trooper at the powwow! She just stayed in a good mood, didn't get fussy, but kept asking me, "Can we go back to the hotel now?" As long as I picked her up and carried for a little bit whenever she needed it, she was good. My 18 month old though had a tough time, and that's where I was losing it myself...they are so pitiful when they are that tired, poor thing.

I just keep telling myself, like I told my hunny, that we got there and back safely, we got to spend time with family and friends, we had some good fortune in our contests, my foot felt great and it felt great to dance again finally, so I just need to count my blessings and call it good.....but just stay home and enjoy my family next year....lol!

There, I think I found my happy place again. :)

[shinobmatt]

problems

Well here is one of the things that got to me as the night began to unravel...lol...I like that description, it is just right.

A friend of mine went to Tuskahoma powwow over Labor Day weekend and she told me after that they tried out their new computer scoring system at that powwow and there were ties in almost every category...including her and she said she tied TWICE at Tuskahoma...I have no idea how that can happen.

So the committee knew there were problems with their system. They gave it a test run and found problems. The problems should have been fixed by the time Durant came around, there should have been no reason for that to happen.

Mike Roberts took the time, since he had plenty of it, to talk to each category of winners when they were announced. He apologized for all the problems with registration, tabulating, and announcing the winners. He said, "I am taking it upon myself personally to make sure that this doesn't happen next year and I want all of you to come back next year."

I told him, after he gave us his spiel, about hearing about the prior test run...he quickly said, "I wasn't at Tuskahoma, so I don't know what happened there." So here is my other issue with the powwow: all day long Tim Tallchief went on and on about Mike Roberts, how "he is responsible for bringing all of this to you folks," "he put this all together." I have been to my share of powwows and it's not unusual for the MC's to thank the powwow committee for their hospitality at various times throughout a weekend powwow....I may be wrong, I may have missed something during the day, but I didn't hear mention of a committee, I just heard Mike's name all day long.
But at the end, when things started falling apart, I never heard Mike take personal responsibilty for the all those problems as the powwow coordinator...he told me that he wasn't at Tuskahoma, he didn't know what went on there with the computer scoring....he distanced himself from the issues, when if he was responsible for "bringing this celebration to" us, then he should have taken responsibility for the problems right then and there...not just inadvertantly blame someone else and tell us that he personally would fix it next year. If he was running the powwow then he should have known how all his equipment worked.

He told a different group of dancers during one of his apologies, "they decided to go with technology this year." More distancing himself.

I know that honest mistakes happen at powwows with the most well-intentioned people. I have worked enough powwows and made honest mistakes to know that the unexpected will happen. I don't believe any of what happened at this powwow was deliberate...I think the results of the regular contests came out as I would have judged it. My issues are different that the usual powwow griping. It would have made a world of difference to me no matter how badly things were going if Mike had told us that he dropped the ball...not that someone else dropped the ball. I admire people who will step up and take responsibility. You can't take the credit when things are good, then shift blame when things are bad.

I think I was just disappointed more than anything. We really enjoyed ourselves last year, it was so much fun and the committee really took care of people at last year's event. This year was alot different in many ways. All kinds of small things, that cumulatively made a difference, started to add weight this year as the day dragged on. Like I said, we did really good in our contests, I finally got to try out my hoof and it felt really good, and we got to see family and friends, so there were some good things. Okay, gotta try to find my happy place again before I post anything more....lol.

we were one of the last groups to be called (jr. mens tradish) and michael told us he took full responsability for what happened. which suprised me, and i also got one gripe about drum contest, they only judged us one round, early in the afternoon and that was it. we heard em call the judges for the next round but never saw em go to the speaker stand i dont know if they judged from the crowd or whut but it seemed strange to me. oh well.

[Josiah]

The dust really started bothering me later in the evening
My contacts were losy with dust later
The weather really made people depressed when the Powwow went to crap!
They could have been doing some fun stuff like snake dances and 2 step anything to break it up while we were waiting for the tabulations...

I keep thinking about that computer system.
Why would there be ties??? Would you not have an odd number of people judging? 3, 5, 7 ect you would never have a tie
And what was up with the judging? Using women to judge men's contest and men judging women's contest never seen that before
What does a man know about Jingle dancing especially one that has always danced in the South???
For that matter what would a woman know about Straight dancing if she was from the North and always danced in the North???

It was little things that started adding up as the evening went on then the Tabulation Snafu and it went down hill really fast!!!
Any good feeling that were felt during the evening disappeared into the cold and wet evening and then our car was hit by someone in the parking lot of that Diner, while we ate breakfast at 3:00 in the morning
I was not a happy camper then!

I wont be going back

[ndnMSW]

we were one of the last groups to be called (jr. mens tradish) and michael told us he took full responsability for what happened. which suprised me.

Well, that's nice that he said that to your group...he didn't say that to mine or my husband's. Wish that would have been announced over the mic just like all the props for Mike that we had to endure all day long.

I was talking to my husband and we were saying that maybe they don't know how to fix whatever was wrong with the computer system. I have no clue what they might have done, but maybe they tried to make it more complicated than it really had to be. A simple Excel spreadsheet will do the trick.....if not, there is always the ledger book and calculator.

I was visiting with some friends on Sunday morning while waiting for my breakfast order, and they said that this powwow had been going on for a few years and that the problems that occurred should never have happened. We talked about some simple things that can be done to help eliminate any ties that work with either a ledger book or a computer program that have been done at other powwows.

Yeah, I agree with you Josiah, that any good feelings we had just kind of trickled away as the evening wore on. When my 18 month old had her meltdown while we were STILL waiting on winners to be announced and almost made my stepdaughter cry cuz she was so pitiful was when I had had enough. That's too bad about your car...I think I would have gone postal on someone if that had happened to us at that point.

I was just reading all the text messages that I was sending to my sister while I was waiting and they are crazy...a good timeline though of what all was going on...lol. Everytime a drum group kicked off another round dance song after a big long space of dead air I just could not believe it. Ask Luvs, I was just trying to maintain while seated in my chair, trying to stay warm and keep an eye on the girls. SHE was about ready to come unglued herself....lol....I forgot, she kept saying she was way beyond that....hehe.

[superdj126]

we were one of the last groups to be called (jr. mens tradish) and michael told us he took full responsability for what happened. which suprised me, and i also got one gripe about drum contest, they only judged us one round, early in the afternoon and that was it. we heard em call the judges for the next round but never saw em go to the speaker stand i dont know if they judged from the crowd or whut but it seemed strange to me. oh well.

I agree with u matt...that was strange we only got judged for drum contest one time...I kept looking for judges during the evening session but never saw any...
But I agree...it was a good powwow till it came time to announcing the winners...and oh yeah...I did bring back some Oklahoma dust back to Texas...LOL

[ac_miss]

Yep, that dust was fierce. I breathed it in a couple of times, and that started my problem with this dry cough I have now. Either that or you gave me your bug, SUPERDJ.

[ac_miss]

It would have been nice if the drum contest was split into northern and southern instead of combined.

[Babe]

I was visiting with some friends on Sunday morning while waiting for my breakfast order, and they said that this powwow had been going on for a few years and that the problems that occurred should never have happened. We talked about some simple things that can be done to help eliminate any ties that work with either a ledger book or a computer program that have been done at other powwows.

All in all I think this powwow went very well. Yes there were some problems, but some good points: The contesting went smooth and quick. They had two sets of judges so when the first group was in line getting judged the next competition was already contesting. There was some excellent dancing and singing, good amount of spectators, lots of vendors for some great christmas shopping! The highlight of the evening was the jr/sr men's fancy spotlight dancing when Amos and Dwight went at it! Great show and congrats to both!

But of course there will be a few downfalls, that's life. I commend the committee/director for putting on a powwow that attracted so many participants! I know from years of experience that it takes a lot of time and energy to plan a powwow all the way to the end. And to have so many criticisms during the first few years is normal, but my suggestion to the committee is to keep an open mind and just take it constructively. There is never a perfect powwow and not every single person will be happy whatever you do and however you bend your back to please them.

I enjoyed myself and will definately be back with my family next year.

[Amandajoy]

good blessings

lots of comlplaining i see? anywho it was good to see visitors from canada, alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba, good turn out dancer/vendor/spectator wise.

As for the registration/announcing of champions things will work out better next year, give them a break geez! YOU all know u'll be back next year!!!!

Thanks to the Choctaw Nation for Hosting a "Thanks"Giving" Celebration. Many dancers/singers were blessed!

[luvstraightdancrs]

Been reading this thread since we got home. Gotta say it was a different type of pow-wow. I agree with just about all the negative responses. I know the dancers we talked to, and their families were really disappointed and even mad at the way things went toward the end.

I'm not sure what happened with the tabulations, didn't do them. All I know is if I was doing it, even with the computer, I would have manually tabulated as a back up while numbers were being entered into the computer. Everyone knows that computers foul up and programs aren't always perfect. That would have made sense to me, then there would not have been a 2 hour wait to get everyone called up. The rule change on full regalia set wrong with me. They disqualified dancers and then excused everyone else from the rule. Seemed like a double standard to me.

Northern judges for southern categories and vice versa has been done in the past and usually works, but you still run into the problem of the professional dancers traveling all over and getting more attention becaue they travel and are more well known - not so much attention that they can in fact dance their category - the way it is supposed to be danced. It is still who you are, how often you are seen and who your pals are. Just my opinion - no haters please!

Women judging men and vice versa also works, as long as they know what they are to be looking for. Not sure that this was the case at Durant.

As far as Michael's name being used alot - they are a well known and very nice people, as they travel extensively. Kinda famous in their tribe. I am glad that he voiced his apologies to some of the dancers, but I think it all came a little too late in the evening. I don't know that he can guarantee that these problems will be remedied next year. What if the Casino or whoever the backers were, don't ask him to do it again after all the comments are made and decisions are made for next year? Is he sure he is going to be running it? I know that we heard several times prior to the dance that it was being put on by the Roberts family. We didn't know who was responsible for the dance - let alone the problems.

Problems happen at every dance, we all know that. But sometimes they can be avoided with a little common sense and pre-planning. I think all in all this was supposed to be a big casino type dance and it turned out way different than planned. A lot of damage has been done because of mistakes made, but it could be reversed with a lot of planning and a lot of legwork.

I don't know if we will go back again, too early to tell. Will all depend on who is in charge probably. I know I hit the point of frustration when the tabulations got messed up and the longer it took, the more upset I got. I was in pain, headache from the dust and my legs were killing me because of the uneven surface, tailbone hurt from sitting in the cold for so long and being hungry - the concessions closed too early. We had a great time with our friends anyway, saw a lot of folks we hadn't seen in awhile, made some new friends as well.

So all in all, it was another Oklahoma pow-wow, some good, some bad, some horrible. But WE had a good time anyways - but then we usually do because we run with a hell of a crew!

[superdj126]

But of course there will be a few downfalls, that's life. I commend the committee/director for putting on a powwow that attracted so many participants! I know from years of experience that it takes a lot of time and energy to plan a powwow all the way to the end. And to have so many criticisms during the first few years is normal, but my suggestion to the committee is to keep an open mind and just take it constructively. There is never a perfect powwow and not every single person will be happy whatever you do and however you bend your back to please them.

Yeah I agree with you...no powwow is perfect...and I'm sure this powwow will be better next year and many years to come.
It was fun for me because I got to see many friends in Oklahoma...and fun because most of my family travelled up here in all that rain and sleet to have a good time and we did. I plan on coming back next year....

[Josiah]

Been reading this thread since we got home. Gotta say it was a different type of pow-wow. I agree with just about all the negative responses. I know the dancers we talked to, and their families were really disappointed and even mad at the way things went toward the end.

I'm not sure what happened with the tabulations, didn't do them. All I know is if I was doing it, even with the computer, I would have manually tabulated as a back up while numbers were being entered into the computer. Everyone knows that computers foul up and programs aren't always perfect. That would have made sense to me, then there would not have been a 2 hour wait to get everyone called up. The rule change on full regalia set wrong with me. They disqualified dancers and then excused everyone else from the rule. Seemed like a double standard to me.

Northern judges for southern categories and vice versa has been done in the past and usually works, but you still run into the problem of the professional dancers traveling all over and getting more attention becaue they travel and are more well known - not so much attention that they can in fact dance their category - the way it is supposed to be danced. It is still who you are, how often you are seen and who your pals are. Just my opinion - no haters please!

Women judging men and vice versa also works, as long as they know what they are to be looking for. Not sure that this was the case at Durant.

As far as Michael's name being used alot - they are a well known and very nice people, as they travel extensively. Kinda famous in their tribe. I am glad that he voiced his apologies to some of the dancers, but I think it all came a little too late in the evening. I don't know that he can guarantee that these problems will be remedied next year. What if the Casino or whoever the backers were, don't ask him to do it again after all the comments are made and decisions are made for next year? Is he sure he is going to be running it? I know that we heard several times prior to the dance that it was being put on by the Roberts family. We didn't know who was responsible for the dance - let alone the problems.

Problems happen at every dance, we all know that. But sometimes they can be avoided with a little common sense and pre-planning. I think all in all this was supposed to be a big casino type dance and it turned out way different than planned. A lot of damage has been done because of mistakes made, but it could be reversed with a lot of planning and a lot of legwork.

I don't know if we will go back again, too early to tell. Will all depend on who is in charge probably. I know I hit the point of frustration when the tabulations got messed up and the longer it took, the more upset I got. I was in pain, headache from the dust and my legs were killing me because of the uneven surface, tailbone hurt from sitting in the cold for so long and being hungry - the concessions closed too early. We had a great time with our friends anyway, saw a lot of folks we hadn't seen in awhile, made some new friends as well.

So all in all, it was another Oklahoma pow-wow, some good, some bad, some horrible. But WE had a good time anyways - but then we usually do because we run with a hell of a crew!

I agree we had a blast up till 11:00 pm
Boy did it go down hill after that