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

[ac_miss]

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.

Yep, you said it best! The pow-wow is still in a learning phase, so I'm sure they'll chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

I had a good time, and I would not mind returning next year. By then, my little one will be in tiny tots, so you won't hear too much complaining about the tabulation set-up from me. *LOL*

[ac_miss]

JOSIAH...you should wear your Powwows.com t-shirt next time, so that I won't confuse you with anyone else. aye! *L*

[Josiah]

JOSIAH...you should wear your Powwows.com t-shirt next time, so that I won't confuse you with anyone else. aye! *L*

I will at least sling it across the back of my chair

LOL

We need to come up with a secret handshake or at least the high sign
For us Powwow.comers!!!
hahahahaha

[ac_miss]

We need to come up with a secret handshake or at least the high sign For us Powwow.comers!!! hahahahaha

I'm all for that! Be sure and let others know. And, no, Josiah, no Boomer Sooner hand sign either. *LOL*

[tweety_rez]

I think....we should remember these good words

“It is not the critic who counts; nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat”~
THEORDORE ROOSEVELT

( All I can say is props to the people who are putting on pow wows!! Cause I love going to them.)

[woggs]

For me the powwow was fun. I danced again. My son danced again, but he kept running off and playing. The people all seemed happy and high spirited. If you focus on the END of the powwow you must be talking about WINNERs. When they announced winners, yes that sucked waiting to hear. But during that time we got to visit with old friends. It was a Saturday night and a holiday weekend for that matter, so no one was REALLY truly in a rush to get anywhere.
Now, geeze I have never seen SO much Negativity in my life.
I have been to SO many powwows where they announced winners late. or powwows where the contesting was done by 10 pm and winners weren't announced till 5am. But That doesnt bother me, its just something that goes with powwowing. Theres no time limit on Indian Time. Indian Time happens, which is that we do things and take our time to do them right. I would have to say that MY EXPERIENCE was a good one. I enjoyed the dancing, singing, food, visiting people, and just BEING at a powwow.
Now I love powwows, and I think love for them out does all my crankiness. Anyone who REALLY knows me, knows that I am usually not found complaining.
Now I've had this love of dancing and powwowing ripped away from me twice, I am SO THANKFUL for powwows, no matter how crazy they are sometimes. LOL I even been to some where there are justa bunch of Hobbyists and the drums are RANK.
Just admit, IT WAS NICE Jammin to the Drums, Dancing, singing, watching the singing, the special was fun to watch, AND seeing all them friends.
Hopefully next year, we'll all look back and be thankful that we all LIVED through the wait at Durant.

Just had to share my gratefulness for the opportunity to still gather and celebrate w/ song and dance.

[Josiah]

For me the powwow was fun. I danced again. My son danced again, but he kept running off and playing. The people all seemed happy and high spirited. If you focus on the END of the powwow you must be talking about WINNERs. When they announced winners, yes that sucked waiting to hear. But during that time we got to visit with old friends. It was a Saturday night and a holiday weekend for that matter, so no one was REALLY truly in a rush to get anywhere.
Now, geeze I have never seen SO much Negativity in my life.
I have been to SO many powwows where they announced winners late. or powwows where the contesting was done by 10 pm and winners weren't announced till 5am. But That doesnt bother me, its just something that goes with powwowing. Theres no time limit on Indian Time. Indian Time happens, which is that we do things and take our time to do them right. I would have to say that MY EXPERIENCE was a good one. I enjoyed the dancing, singing, food, visiting people, and just BEING at a powwow.
Now I love powwows, and I think love for them out does all my crankiness. Anyone who REALLY knows me, knows that I am usually not found complaining.
Now I've had this love of dancing and powwowing ripped away from me twice, I am SO THANKFUL for powwows, no matter how crazy they are sometimes. LOL I even been to some where there are justa bunch of Hobbyists and the drums are RANK.
Just admit, IT WAS NICE Jammin to the Drums, Dancing, singing, watching the singing, the special was fun to watch, AND seeing all them friends.
Hopefully next year, we'll all look back and be thankful that we all LIVED through the wait at Durant.

Just had to share my gratefulness for the opportunity to still gather and celebrate w/ song and dance.

I agree with what your saying
And it was the little things that kinda cropped up throughout the night
Anytime the MC says that we are going to enforce the rules watch out! stuff is going to happen
Like at the very end
They disqualified several Dancers and then turned around and changed there mind
It was the little things that made this one go sour at the end
Also depends on who you talk to about this
The ones that packed up and left before the end thought it was a good Powwow
Others did not
Such is Life eh?

[luvstraightdancrs]

Woggs, it was good to see you, visit and watch you dance again. Always good to be around you. So you will know, you have lifted my spirits on this dance and the controversey surrounding it. Still not recovered, but at least we got to see you, so it was all good!

Other than Josiah and KIDZ car getting smashed!

[ok24stacey]

and the meat nachos weren't so bad.........

[chazziff]

two am aint nothing .. around these parts that ending early!! lol but yeah jus be glad you were at a pow wow with friends and family .. and it could be worse. i just gotta remember that too lol

[ndnMSW]

You know, i am used to the Hwy 2 powwows up north that don't get done until anywhere between 1am-4am on a Sunday after 3 days of dancing, and waiting in the cold that late at night. I always looked forward to those powwows and I miss them.

I'm used to waiting for winners, waiting on ties to be announced, and I've been to my share of powwows where there are alot of discrepancies either in the way the contests were run, or in the way the winners were announced. I can still say I enjoyed myself no matter the outcome.

I am used to having a good time at powwows because I AM grateful to be able to dance, and to travel, and just coming off a short period of time where I wasn't able to dance (not counting my 2 pregnancies) made me very thankful to be out in the arena dancing and not just watching or staying home.

I am used to going to all different kinds of powwows, getting alot of good out of them and keeping quiet about the negative. So it it's definitely not like me, especially after having my first baby, to feel so negative about any celebration. Anyone that knows me, knows that about me.

It's not about the winners...it's not about the time...it's a cumulation of alot of different things throughout the day that struck ME the wrong way....I didn't even go into some of the things I thought were seriously wrong during the day because that would serve no purpose and I'm trying really hard to recall any good that came out of the powwow for me. This year was way different than last year. I was on this thread earlier, as you can see, where I said this was a great powwow last year, which it was. This year's powwow was just the opposite of last year's for me and my little family. Don't even begin to think that it's about the winners either cuz I actually did better this year than I did last year in the contest, but I didn't have anywhere near as much fun as last year.

I don't like it when people make a big deal out of "Oh, we're never going back there again," because I don't think it matters to majority of powwow people who goes where and who doesn't go where....there are plenty of powwows to go around and I don't think anyone misses us at the powwows we choose not to go to.

Bottom line: I enjoyed dancing but I didn't enjoy this powwow. I have recovered enough from this experience however to feel the following:

1 - I'm glad I got to dance finally and that my foot didn't hurt
2 - I'm glad I got to see my family and friends
3 - I'm glad that my family got there and back safely
4 - I'm glad my babies didn't get sick after being there in the dust and the cold and being exhausted

I wish the powwow committee lots of luck in the coming years. I've worked enough powwows of all shapes and sizes to know what they are going through in the planning and the execution of an event, but to also know that there is no excuse for some of what went on there.

[WhoMe]

...Bottom line: I enjoyed dancing but I didn't enjoy this powwow. I have recovered enough from this experience however to feel the following:

1 - I'm glad I got to dance finally and that my foot didn't hurt
2 - I'm glad I got to see my family and friends
3 - I'm glad that my family got there and back safely
4 - I'm glad my babies didn't get sick after being there in the dust and the cold and being exhausted

I wish the powwow committee lots of luck in the coming years. I've worked enough powwows of all shapes and sizes to know what they are going through in the planning and the execution of an event, but to also know that there is no excuse for some of what went on there.

MSW,

I for one, appreciate your constructive criticism. I know many people, including myself, are quick to criticise without equally acknowledging what was good about something. You did this and it is appreciated.

I know you travel a lot and have seen the gamut of Powwows both good and bad.

Thank you for sharing on powwows.com.


WhoMe

[Ol'Girl]

Woggs, ndnMSW, WhoMe, tweety_rez, ok24stacey & luvstraightdancrs:

I so wish I could find the graphic of the hands clapping! It would be so appropriate to all of you!! And any others who tried to find some good in this. There always is good in ANYthing if you take the time to find it. I'm currently on the injured reserve list, but am going to Toronto to visit and have fun.

[Josiah]

two am aint nothing .. around these parts that ending early!! lol but yeah jus be glad you were at a pow wow with friends and family .. and it could be worse. i just gotta remember that too lol

True but we started at 1000 am with the Gourd Dance!!
First Grand Entry was noon and the 2nd was 7:30 pm

We got there at about 9:00 am and left after 2:00 am
that is 17 hours
So I suppose we were a bit cranky

[WhoMe]

The contrast and difference between Southern (Oklahoma) powwow and Northern (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) powwows is as different as night and day.

It all boils down to what you are used to.

In these provinces they announce winners between 1am and 5am on Monday morning. You often have to travel more than 6 hours to attend the next powwow. There are 3-day powwows in the middle of the week. If you are competing you normally dance to 3 songs each of the 5 sessions.

This is quite different from Oklahoma powwows where a late powwow lasts until 1am on Monday morning, a 6 hour drive is done only seldomly and most powwows begin the contest portion of the powwow at 7 or 8pm. In most Oklahoma powwows, you only have to dance to two songs.