ohio state univeristy powwow

[bethtsalagi]

been waiting for someone to post about this powwow. nobody yet so here goes. been waiting and waiting for a powwow to come back to OSU because we have family that went there. well it was there. i mean the drums were good and the few dancers were good as well as the head male, head female, HV, AD and MC. of course we love Ribbontown!!!! i wanted all to make sure that all of that was good becuase here comes the negative stuff. the rest of the event sucked big time. the place was OK but way out of the way and the parking sucked also big time. vendors? what vendors, we counted 4 and the rest of all that space was wasted. they ran out of food for the evening meal and hardly no audience at all. our biggest complaint was with the lady that was listed as the contact and head person for the event some woman namen candi kirsch was rude and arrogant. we called and called and called and left that woman tons of messages. i sent her at least 15 e-mails asking about where, parkiing, etc. etc. etc. and she did not return a sinlge phone call or a sinlge e-mail message. then we met her and was so turned off by her attitude and lack of knowing anything about the culture. what is this? did OSU hire some wannabe white woman to run this powwow? all I can say is at least they did get good drums and stuff becuase had it not been for that we would have left as soon as we got there. looks like ohio sucks again when it comes to powwows and I can say GO WOVERINES for powwows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO BLUE!

[lbgood]

.

[neling4]

I forgot all about this one.

[Kamama]

From what I understood, when we had spoken with her, she did apologize to us about the small amount of vendors, etc. Saying she only had 4 months to plan for the powwow, and is hoping that next year will be better.
Last time I was at OSU powwow, was like in 04' or so, and it was pretty big. So....maybe next year will be better.

[beerad]

I agree, the drums were good! I danced Saturday and had a good time. Parking was terrible, we had to pay 3 bucks and carry our regalia a good distance. There was no signs at all, I just happened to know where the rec center was. It was nothing like the powwows OSU had back in the early 90's. Someone needs to let them know it takes an entire year to plan and helps to have someone who knows what's going on. Candie is the University liason for Native students as I recall. She did the best she could considering, but needs to ask for help from the community. It didn't help that it was the week before the Selma Walker Memorial Powwow held by the NAICCO.

[bethtsalagi]

osu powwow

from what i and my family gathered that candi or candie lady had more than 4 months to plan! there were rumors about the powwow being a closed powwow back in the fall of 2008 from some of our friends with Ribbontown and others. that was well more than any 4 months ago too. don't fall into any excueses for not planning well! we also heard that there were plenty of vendors that wanted to come but that candi or candie lady never got back to them just as she did not answer our messages either. as for as is it being an ohio powwow and that is why it was not good i have to disagree with that because this is osu and they should have been able to do a kick *** powwow. the realy dissapointment was that this is ohio state and not some unkown group. beerad says that this candi or candie lady is the indian liason? WTF? she seemed more like the white wannabe liason as she was rude and unknowledgeable about anything indian that we could see and hear. yes osu did have some nice powwows in the past. as having family members that are osu alum i hope that it does get better.
GO BLUE

[Wojapi4Me]

from what i and my family gathered that candi or candie lady had more than 4 months to plan! there were rumors about the powwow being a closed powwow back in the fall of 2008 from some of our friends with Ribbontown and others. that was well more than any 4 months ago too. don't fall into any excueses for not planning well! we also heard that there were plenty of vendors that wanted to come but that candi or candie lady never got back to them just as she did not answer our messages either. as for as is it being an ohio powwow and that is why it was not good i have to disagree with that because this is osu and they should have been able to do a kick *** powwow. the realy dissapointment was that this is ohio state and not some unkown group. beerad says that this candi or candie lady is the indian liason? WTF? she seemed more like the white wannabe liason as she was rude and unknowledgeable about anything indian that we could see and hear. yes osu did have some nice powwows in the past. as having family members that are osu alum i hope that it does get better.
GO BLUE

Openly smashing someone on the internet is POOR FORM!! It's especially distasteful when you don't even sign your name.

I thought one of the policies of this site was to not publicly bash people by name? Guess not???

Also, what the heck is a "closed pow wow?"

[Twohawks24]

Well now, this is the kind of attention that I thought this pow wow would bring! Well all I can say is that if you would like your complaints to truly be heard you can always contact the OSU Multicultural Center and ask for either Rebecca Nelson or Felix Alonzo. I was attending OSU while the powwow was being planned and I know there was a lot of foot dragging done by several committee members including myself. Although, the main person behind the pow wow was not a full time engineering student, like myself. At any rate I myself was very disappointed at how the powwow was handled, and I was disrespected on more than one occasion by the Liason. Now on the matter of this being a closed powwow. The area that the pow wow was being held at was donated to the student group, and the RPAC reserved the rights to deny the community public to an event that is being held at the RPAC. This is due in part that the RPAC was built by student dollars and they feel the need to protect the space. So, to our knowledge the University was not going to allow public participation unless they had something to do with the event or were part of the university. So that means that dancers and dancers families would have been able to come along with singers and drummers, and vendors. It would just be the general public that would not be allowed. Now, if your not confused by this part, you should be!! I know that the University did give the go ahead to allow the public to this event finally, but thats the best explanation I can give on the subject of the pow wow being a closed event. I know that powwows are FOR THE PEOPLE, so how could a pow wow be closed? But I could not seem to convince the liason or the powers of the university of this. The powwow was basically taken out of the students power and the decisions were being made by the liason. I then decided to withdraw from the committee as I had no say in the powwow, and the liason had very little knowledge of the native community. I myself have been powwowing since the age of six, and understand the powwows like the back of my hand. Needless to say, the university needs to hear these kinds of complaints from us Native people to make the university a better place for Natives to go. Natives are less than one percent on that campus, and they need reinforcement from the community!!!! So please let your voices be heard!!!

[bethtsalagi]

osu crap

wow, thanks for that explanation twohawks24. i knew that we heard a rumor way back in the fall that it was going to be a closed powwow! usually closed powwows are not advertised etc. so nobody really knows they are closed as they are just for the family, friends etc. the strange thing about this rumor is that this osu powwows was known and publicized but also closed and that is just wrong. Wojapi4Me there is huge difference between bashing somebody and telling the truth of thier mistakes especially when they are using excuses instead of taking the blame as they should. talking about somebody's arrogant rudenes and lakd of native knowlege is not bashing if it is true. twohawks24 i am so gald that you also showed the problems with the person there called the indian liason. i mean how hard would it have been for that person to return the many calls and many e-mails sent to you about information on the event? not hard at all if that is her job and she was the contact person right? RIGHT! hey twohawks24 how do we contact those others that you listed and voice more conncres that according to Wojapi4Me we better not voice here?
GO BLUE

[bethtsalagi]

what a minute

wait a minute. this is a forum for conerns in the indian community right? so i am right in voicing my conerns over the [email protected]#$ at the osu powwow. i will say again that me and the family liked the drums and dancers and what vendors where there as well as the HM, HF, AD, MC and HV. they were all nice. it is the logitics, is that right, of osu planning, directions and running out of food, parking, and serious lack of communication with the contact person, that woman that is the so called indian liason, about information on the powwow and also that same persons lacke of indian manners and knowldege. so this is the right place to voice these conceerns to other indian people! now i shall voice my concerns to osu as soon as i found out the contat for them. thank you!!!! GO BLUE

[Wojapi4Me]

wait a minute. this is a forum for conerns in the indian community right? so i am right in voicing my conerns over the [email protected]#$ at the osu powwow. i will say again that me and the family liked the drums and dancers and what vendors where there as well as the HM, HF, AD, MC and HV. they were all nice. it is the logitics, is that right, of osu planning, directions and running out of food, parking, and serious lack of communication with the contact person, that woman that is the so called indian liason, about information on the powwow and also that same persons lacke of indian manners and knowldege. so this is the right place to voice these conceerns to other indian people! now i shall voice my concerns to osu as soon as i found out the contat for them. thank you!!!! GO BLUE

My only concern is that you publicly bashed someone by name on this forum without signing your own name to the original concern. Kind of unfair don't you think? The internet is full of people bashing others who get to hide behind an anonymous screen name. I had hoped that Indian Country would be above all of that...but then again, I live on a rez and should have known better. LOL

Keep flaming! Apparently, it's ok...

[beerad]

Well now, this is the kind of attention that I thought this pow wow would bring! Well all I can say is that if you would like your complaints to truly be heard you can always contact the OSU Multicultural Center and ask for either Rebecca Nelson or Felix Alonzo. I was attending OSU while the powwow was being planned ....

TwoHawks, Thanks for the insight. It helps to have insider information like that to better understand what happened. I, like others, did enjoy the powwow. The drums were all good... Maza Napin, Thunder Nation, & Ribbontown (WOW, I liked them... always good to hear a new drum! And good guys too!) I always try to have fun, no matter where I go. I also try to help educate (if asked, here comes the truth).. sometimes you gotta just go with the flow until something funky occurs. When all else fails, leave.

I was at the powwow in Lancaster and was talking with an Ojibway vendor who was passing through on his way home from the Inauguration Powwow in D.C. I asked him what he thought (knowing I was gonna get an interesting answer) and he said he had never seen so many hair dyed and skin dyed Indians in his life. But he then added that he guesses it was better than nothing. And I believe that to be true, we could have nothing here.

When we put on the powwows back in the early 90's, it wasn't the AIC or our advisor who coordinated the powwow. It was OCNAA and NAICCO and others who helped us plan it and put it on. Without their help, we would have never pulled it off successfully. I think it was 1990 and 1991 where we had an entire Native American Awareness Week with Bill Miller in concert, John Trudell in concert, a Jim Yellowhawk art exhibit, Dennis Banks, Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman, Nathan Chasing Horse and his dad Joseph, Ward Churchill, Luci Tapohanso, and Susan Shown Harjo and other events. Those were great times!

Myself, I'm no full-blood, but my grandpa taught me that it didn't matter. I've had plenty of elders say the same. If things in Ohio are going to change for the better, than people need to get out there and be a good example. There are ways of doing that without creating a scene or causing "political" backlash.

My $.02, whatever that's worth these days :)

Brad

[lbgood]

.

[timmy tiger]

I agree with Wojapi here about not putting names out. If it's the truth, all that really needed to be said was that the "Liason" and anyone who knew about the pow wow would have known who you were talking about without putting someone's name on the "world wide web". My Elders have always told me to never put someones name on the net. And I go by that totally. Now if someone else does then I can speak on what I know.

I didn't go to this particular pow wow but I have been to several college pow wow's and you have to remember that these are young kids with full plates to begin with and they don't always realize just how much work it is to putting on a pow wow until they get into it and go "Oh Chit. what did I do?"LOL if they even realize that. And it sounds like these young kids did it pretty much all on thier own and not with the aid of any of the organizations around them, now that does make a difference.

So if it bothered you so much, did you offer to help out for the next time? Did you listen to her and try to talk with her? Or just made up your mind and put it out? I'm really not trying to be rude or mean here, honestly just asking simple questions.

And I agree with Beerad. Many many times I've been at a pow wow with my family and when the person running it comes up to my Uncle (Who I'm usually set up next to or with there) he will look at them and say "Talk to that lady there. Get together with her and work it out." And he points to me.LOL My answer is always "What did I do?"LMAO Well, the offer was always there and yes I have met with many people to help them out with their pow wow's and try to get things together. Many times I have, of course, found that many either want something for nothing or they don't want to mess with this or that. Well, that's cool too. I can honestly look someone in the face and say "I tried".LOL And I have many times sat or stood and listened to one of the young people involved with putting on a college pow wow tell me all the problems that they had, they just needed to get it off their chest and have someone who understands or just listens. Sometimes I would make suggestions and sometimes I would just sit and listen. And you know amost everyone of those I go back to. Not because they are the best of the best (which seems to be what most are looking for) but because the people involved really tried and did their best. And that does matter. Show them support and a friend and it will get better. But put them down and belittle them publicly or in a judgemental way and they will just give up and that would be a shame too. They are young and have a lot of learning and growning to do with the help of other's, they sure can't do it alone even if they think that they can. Young ones always think they can do it all, and they can't.LOL

Just my opinion on this subject.

[bethtsalagi]

osu powwow

the internet is not our traditon as it is new and the white mans tradtion and giving your name is not always wise in any thing on the www inclduing this website. yes we all use it and other great tech and it helps a great deal. again telling the facts of how things went down and the extreme rudeness of one is not bashing either. btw, beth is my name and i am not going to give my full last name espeically on an unsecure site. as for trying to work with the lady at osu, well you can't work with anybody if they don't communicate with you! how do we know she was so rude and so arrongant and ignorant of indians, easy when we did get there we tried talking with her both days and that is what we got, rudeness along with ignorance. did we offer to help, yes and did we get shunned, yes. so if one did not attend and see what things were like and how this osu indian liason was please don't assume. my family have been to many a univeristy powwow in which everything was fine and good. this was osu, and we found out that they had a person hired specifically for indian stuff and indian liason job as mentioned before. also i say again this perons was listed as THE person for this powwow and btw she is not young at all. well not answer calls and message is rude and bad regardless of any culture or way. and then being rude at an event is bad also. GO BLUE