Redbird Powwow July 18-20

Children of Many Colors Powwow
July 18 -20, 2008
Moorpark College Athletic Field
7075 Campus Road, Moorpark, CA 93021
Native American Arts, Crafts and Food Vendors and Non Profits
Everyone Welcome – All Powwow Drums and Dancers Welcome
Friday Evening Potluck, Open Flute Circle 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday Gourd Dance, Intertribal Powwow 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday Gourd Dance, Intertribal Powwow 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Raffle! Chief Joseph Pendleton Blanket, donated by Michael Reifel,
as well as other great prizes. Get your tickets at the powwow!

"The Next Seven Generations" - Our powwow program includes the
voices of contributors from throughout the western hemisphere on the
future of our planet and our people. At 32 pages, we could barely
staple it! Powwow programs are just $1.00, so be sure to get one.

Happy Birthday Saginaw! Saginaw Grant will be celebrating his
birthday with us again this weekend. Saginaw has attended every
single Redbird powwow, including our very first in 1994.

Friday Potluck, Saturday Feed, Sunday Morning Breakfast
We don't want anyone to go hungry! If there is enough food on
Saturday night, we would like to offer the vendors something to eat
as well as our singers, drummers, dancers and special guests. These
feeds are a community effort – we will need volunteers to help serve
on Saturday night, and some hearty souls to help with the dishes
afterwards.

Vendor Set-Up should be available by noon on Friday. We will be
sharing the parking lot with Moorpark College athletic activities
until approximately 4 p.m., but they were kind enough to alter their
own practice schedule so that we could access the field Friday
morning.

Singers and Dancers - You can put your dancer canopy on the arena as
soon as the circle is marked on Friday. Drums coming on Saturday
can set up their canopies Friday; drums coming on Sunday can set up
their canopies when they arrive on Sunday.

Showers will be open for vendors, singers, dancers, tipi people and
volunteers from 7 a.m. to noon both Saturday and Sunday.

Visitors – We have designated two canopies and rented chairs for our
guests, but you may want to consider bringing your own
canopies/chairs/blankets.

Head Staff 2008

Host Northern Drum
Wild Horse
Host Southern/Gourd Drum
Hale and Company
Invited Northern Drum
Blue Star
Head Man
Sam Bear Paw, Apache
Head Woman
Marcie Patterson,
Cheyenne/Sioux
Head Girl Dancer
Starr Greensky-Fairbanks
Lakota/Ojibwa
Head Boy Dancer – Saturday
Eli Cordero, Chumash
Head Boy Dancer – Sunday
Gregory Whitehorse, Apache
Head Gourd Dancer
David Patterson, Sac and Fox
Eagle Staff
Saginaw Grant, Sac and Fox
Master of Ceremonies
Michael Reifel, San Carlos Apache
Arena Director
Vic Chavez, Dine'
Whip Man
Randy Guzman Folkes, Chumash
Special Guests
Alan Salazar, Storyteller, Chumash Nation
The Young Chumash Dolphin Dancers
Southwest Kwapa Bird Singers, Somerton, AZ
Steve Villa and Company, Southern California Bird Singers
Simunu Dancers and Singers

- RedBirds Vision -
email: [email protected]
phone: 805 217-0364
mail: Redbird, P.O. Box 702,
Simi Valley, CA 93062
This is a family event hosted by Redbird, a 501(c)(3) non-profit
$2.00 per vehicle suggested donation

If This Is Your First Powwow…

First and foremost, welcome. A powwow is a celebration of Native
American culture which the public is welcome to attend.

A powwow is part social gathering, part ceremony, part celebration,
and part market place. It is one of the ways in which cultural
traditions and community values are passed down from one generation
to the next.

The Children of Many Colors Powwow is hosted by Redbird, a Native
American and Environmental non profit association based in Simi
Valley, California. The name "Children of Many Colors" has its
origins in the words of Onendaga Turtle Clan Faithkeeper Oren
Lyons. At a gathering at Claremont College in 1994, Lyons
said "Every woman is a mother, and every man an uncle, to every
child, no matter what color they are." He offered this as a way for
us to understand that we are all responsible for the fate of all the
coming generations, and our planet.

The powwow is Redbird's signature event, and our single most
powerful tool for fostering understanding, respect and tolerance
among people of all nations. We hope you will not only enjoy
yourself this weekend, but take away good thoughts and good feelings
that stay with you long after the last drum beat fades into silence.

Around the dance arena are the canopies of the dancers and their
families. These are their personal spaces for the duration of the
powwow. You will also find an area for visitors, with shade
canopies and chairs. Help yourself to a chair, or bring a blanket
to sit on and enjoy the singing, drumming and dancing.

The arena will be blessed before we begin. Please do not walk
across the arena to get from one side to another, or let your
children run and play in the arena.

There are a number of social dances, such as the Round Dance, in
which the public is definitely welcome to join in. This is a simple
dance that doesn't require a lot of fancy footwork, so when the
Master of Ceremonies calls for a Round Dance or Friendship Dance,
don't be shy. Come and join us.

There will be times throughout the powwow when a blanket is placed
in the arena. Blankets are set out as ways to honor a drum, a
dancer, a singer, or perhaps a family going through a crisis. You
will see people putting money on the blanket; this is both an
honoring and a tangible gift that can be used for gas, food, or
sometimes a special need such as medical bills. Generosity is one
of the core values of traditional native people. Any time there is
a blanket in the arena, you are welcome to come out and make your
offering. There is no amount that is too small if it is given in a
good way.

The Master of Ceremonies will do his best to explain what is going
on in the arena. If he says everyone is welcome to come out, then
everyone is welcome; including you.

At some very large powwows, intertribal dances are reserved for
dancers in regalia, and visitors are not encouraged to come out. If
you would like to come out into the arena during an intertribal
dance this weekend, you may. You will notice that women usually
wear a shawl or blanket around their shoulders. This is a showing
of modesty, respect, and a symbol of our special relationship to
Mother Earth. We are the life-givers and the care-takers. If you
are a woman and you have a shawl or blanket, you can wrap it around
your shoulders. It does not need to be fancy, native-made or have
fringe. We will understand your offering of respect.

For those of you taking pictures, please listen to the Master of
Ceremonies who will indicate when it is or is not okay to photograph
the activities in the arena.

Most dancers carry fans, which serve three purposes; as a cooling
device, as a sun shade, and as a way to block their face from
photographers. If someone covers their face with their fan when
they see your camera, they are trying to indicate that they would
prefer not to be photographed.

Sometimes there are spiritual reasons that people do not want their
pictures taken. Sometime the sheer number of cameras being pointed
at you gets unnerving, especially for children. It's rather like
being an exotic animal in a zoo; a de-humanizing experience. And
sometimes, you just don't feel like having your picture taken. The
dancers may be hot, and tired, or focused on their prayers which, to
many, dancing is.

If you want to photograph an individual outside of the arena, please
ask their permission. If you are really good at taking pictures,
get the dancer's name and address, and send them a copy. Who
doesn't like a flattering photograph of themselves?

If you enjoy what you see, hear and feel this weekend, let us
know. Our website has a list of other Native American gatherings
in Southern California, as well as information about who we are,
what we do, and why it is important.

Redbird is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) federally recognized non
profit. Gatherings like the Children of Many Colors Powwow are made
possible entirely by donations and by the dedication of our friends,
old and new, native and non-native. We welcome you into our circle.

- RedBirds Vision -
Redbird, P.O. Box 702, Simi Valley, CA 93062

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