Pow Wows and the Economy

[thizgirlpowwows]

It's not that good of a pow wow in my opinion....way overrated. I went last year and paid $101 for three of us to get in ($32 for the three-day pass and $5 for a souvenir booklet)...and that was just to get in. I don't think we spent over $100 the entire time we were at Cheyenne River Sioux Labor Day Wacipi in Eagle Butte. Much better singing and it was FREE!!

very true, Im not going this year to GON, but hey i was at Eagle Butte too and I even camped LOL, something i havent done in a long time,

[native nation]

How is Denver March as far as expenses? We'll be going this year.

[skybird5]

How is Denver March as far as expenses? We'll be going this year.

I decided to finally go to Denver March 2 years ago for the 1st time, I'll never go back. It was expensive to get in-I can't remember how much but the food issue was terrible. The building has a snack bar with snack type foods-Nachos, popcorn, hot dogs, PEPSI, etc. and there is only one frybread stand where they had just plain and indian tacos for like $5 and $8. AND they closely monitor the admission doors and seach your bags and things so you CAN NOT bring any of your own food. I saw a guy throw away a huge bag of wendys because they wouldn't let him bring it in. There are some smart singers/dancers who come in through the back door and smuggle food in their stuff because no one is really checking there but that was hit or miss. My biggest complaint was that it's a PEPSI only event and for the avid Diet Coke fan, you're out of luck.

Other than that, the poor dancers have to contest 4 times and the prize money is pathetic. I was really surprised at how small the contest money is for this supposedly huge powwow-I added it up while i was sitting around and the TOTAL payout for all the contests was $16,000. TOTAL. I think first place in adults is $400. Which in no way equals what they put the dancers through with the noon grand entry on Friday and contesting 4 times.

And because there is no drum contest, they get alot of drums/pick up groups there to get the day money of $50 per session which means alot of drum hopping and seeing the same singer at 5 different drums.

It was completely NOT worth the time or money that I actually ended up spending. I shared a room with some friends, I flew in and rode with them to the building. I didn't do the usual Denver March party-which seems to be the ONLY reason most people go, so I didn't spend any money on "entertainment" so to speak. I can't think of any fabulous redeeming qualities that the pow wow presented which would have made the money I spent worth it.

[Wojapi4Me]

I decided to finally go to Denver March 2 years ago for the 1st time, I'll never go back. It was expensive to get in-I can't remember how much but the food issue was terrible. The building has a snack bar with snack type foods-Nachos, popcorn, hot dogs, PEPSI, etc. and there is only one frybread stand where they had just plain and indian tacos for like $5 and $8. AND they closely monitor the admission doors and seach your bags and things so you CAN NOT bring any of your own food. I saw a guy throw away a huge bag of wendys because they wouldn't let him bring it in. There are some smart singers/dancers who come in through the back door and smuggle food in their stuff because no one is really checking there but that was hit or miss. My biggest complaint was that it's a PEPSI only event and for the avid Diet Coke fan, you're out of luck.

Other than that, the poor dancers have to contest 4 times and the prize money is pathetic. I was really surprised at how small the contest money is for this supposedly huge powwow-I added it up while i was sitting around and the TOTAL payout for all the contests was $16,000. TOTAL. I think first place in adults is $400. Which in no way equals what they put the dancers through with the noon grand entry on Friday and contesting 4 times.

And because there is no drum contest, they get alot of drums/pick up groups there to get the day money of $50 per session which means alot of drum hopping and seeing the same singer at 5 different drums.

It was completely NOT worth the time or money that I actually ended up spending. I shared a room with some friends, I flew in and rode with them to the building. I didn't do the usual Denver March party-which seems to be the ONLY reason most people go, so I didn't spend any money on "entertainment" so to speak. I can't think of any fabulous redeeming qualities that the pow wow presented which would have made the money I spent worth it.

I agree with this 100%...I don't see the big deal with this one. Granted, you do get to dance a lot more than at Gathering, but it still isn't all that much fun. I'll take a smaller, tribal (community) pow wow anyday over these big contest dances.

[ugidali]

We need to talk to Obama about this.

Ok, so as a personal rule of mine, I don't pay to get into pow wows. I must be very fortunate to live in a place where Admission charges are the exception and NOT the rule. I do realize that many pow wows rely on an admission charge to raise funds for the contest payouts and my thought is, Native people should never have to pay to express their own songs and dances.
I like that Indio pow wow charges the dancers and singers $5 to register, but for that $5 the participants are given bottled water, soda and snacks for 3 days plus a Saturday evening meal. I think more committees could do something like that-even just charging the participants to register to generate revenue, but not an admission charge. I can't think of many contests that people can participate in for free anyway. Native sporting tournaments all charge an entry fee/registration fee, something nominal but to help cover costs associated with the event.

Its interesting that the NABI event is at the Cardinals stadium, but charging $12 to get in is OUTRAGEOUS. HELLO? Why not have it somewhere cheaper and NOT charge anyone. I don't think anyone really CARES where the event is held, which is also confusing considering that the NABI event itself is in July and the 10k and pow wow are in May?

Teee hee he he he heee.
But seriously, I agree.

[Dakota Sandz]

hmmm.... I love american powwows and all, there's more big powwows there...

but....

Seems like powwows for the most part in the U.S.of A are indoor powwows and seem to have to be in big venues, by the way ya'll talkin.
I'm glad that most of the local powwows around here are outdoor in the summer and NEVER ask for addmission.
Here's a solution. Most of these powwows you complain about are indoor and at huge arena's where the cost for the committee just to rent it out is outrageous for them, so they charge 10-20 bucks per head to get in.
If your a committee guy, why not look at other venues like maybe a big azz park or something outdoors if its a summer powwow??? it would cut costs and not strip the wallets of the people comming to enjoy themselves.
Other solution.....
If your the dancer or singer shelling out mucho money to go to these OVER sponcered powwows where they force you to drink their drinks and what not....why go back??? Know why?? cuz powwowers just wanna go to that BIG azz powwow. They see the bumper stickers and big fancy posters and they say "wow I gotta go there" so they go, knowing full well how much they gonna spend and not get in return, even knowing that it probably wont be much of a powwow and more or less just a social event. Just so they can say "hey I been there"
Happens all the time.
Wanna cut down on expenses??? go to more outdoor powwows. If your STILL paying too much to go to outdoor powwows, then the committee isnt doing a good job raising money all year to sport this powwow..

On another note....I look at alot of these threads and see that people say "OMG!!! I had to CAMP out (no disrespect)"..man I camp out just about every powwow I go to..nothing wrong with that...I prefer it. Used to be fun as hell as a teenager to camp out. Take your tent as far away from your parents and camp by your frenz..that was the shyt back in the day. You can go out snaggin all night, and maybe lead them to your stabbin cabbin..easier to do that then sneek them into a over crowded hotel room with you and your 10 cousins.

[thizgirlpowwows]

On another note....I look at alot of these threads and see that people say "OMG!!! I had to CAMP out (no disrespect)"..man I camp out just about every powwow I go to..nothing wrong with that...I prefer it. Used to be fun as hell as a teenager to camp out. Take your tent as far away from your parents and camp by your frenz..that was the shyt back in the day. You can go out snaggin all night, and maybe lead them to your stabbin cabbin..easier to do that then sneek them into a over crowded hotel room with you and your 10 cousins.

i use to camp out all the time at powwows when i was younger and experienced all the fun times with family and friends (even washing up at the local outdoor faucet LOL), but i havent done that in a long time, so when i posted, it was because I forgot how much fun it used to be (until my tent caved in LOL).............Nowdays there are better facilities for camping, better camping equipment, some powwows still give out rations for campers (new town, nd)

I perfer local, smaller powwows to larger ones, yeah, its nice to travel the big circuit and see everyone at Denver, Gathering, Red Earth, etc. and feel like your part of the powwow crowd, but the smaller powwows are what keep me grounded and i enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere where you can have good conversation with frens and family, dont have to worry about time constraints, see kids dancing who are not in regalia because they love dancing, hear good Lakota songs.........I have cut back a lot going to big powwows because of the economy last year and it will probably be the same thing again this year.........

[Dakota Sandz]

i use to camp out all the time at powwows when i was younger and experienced all the fun times with family and friends (even washing up at the local outdoor faucet LOL), but i havent done that in a long time, so when i posted, it was because I forgot how much fun it used to be (until my tent caved in LOL).............Nowdays there are better facilities for camping, better camping equipment, some powwows still give out rations for campers (new town, nd)

yeah I hear ya...and I wasnt calling you out or nothin, I see ALOT of people say they have to get a room or nothin.
And yeah...I remember going to powwows back in the day and stickin my head under the ol' water tap..haha. As long as I got a place to shower the next day n stuff, I dont care where I stay.

[native nation]

And because there is no drum contest, they get alot of drums/pick up groups there to get the day money of $50 per session which means alot of drum hopping and seeing the same singer at 5 different drums.

Whaat? I did not know that. This is my first time going and all this time I didn't know. hmm... surprising.