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Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to know if any Saponi are going to Powhaten Point this week-end? There is a pretty big pow wow going on Sat& Sun. The Allegheny (NY) folks are coming down and I understand it is well attended!
According to my atlas it is very near W.VA
We plan to leave in the morning,(5am) it’s about 3hrs from Dayton, Ohio.
Hope to see some familiar faces!!!!!!
tasheaka
tasheaka,
I’m in Middletown…..hope you had a wonderful time…maybe next year I’ll be able to go.
I’m still very new to all this and feeling shy about things like pow wows….you know, I’d love to go to one but don’t want to be a “Wannabe”. I guess since my family completely hid their Indianness, I feel I have no right to claim it.
Patty,
Why would you feel like a “wanna be”? You would be very surprised at the warm welcome everyone receives, at a Pow Wow. Your ancestors hid the fact that they are Indian, not as a lack of respect, but as a way to survive. You said, “I feel I have no right to claim it.” News flash: Ancestry is not chosen, or claimed. You are what you are simple as that. Just look in the mirror, & say out loud,”I am Indian”,this may sound silly to you, but you have to start somewhere!
Visit a reservation near you & get to know the people, so when their next Pow Wow comes up you will feel at home.Take care & God Bless.
Sincerely,
CoheeLady
CoheeLady,
I usually only hear about local Pow Wow’s and events here in Ohio after they’re over……bad timing I guess. Of course, it would help if the newspapers and other media would publish the event BEFORE it happens, instead of a two second blurb after it’s all over.
Growing up I had so many people ask what nationality I am, then when I said “part Indian” it was always, “What tribe?”…..as if you aren’t an Indian if you don’t know your tribe.
Then as an adult when I started researching to try and figure it all out I kept running into the “wannabe” insult. I feel drawn to things like Pow Wow’s, but am never quite sure if I would be welcome. Same thing with visiting a reservation…….do they want to know me???
Patty,
I can only speak for the reservations that I have visited in Virginia. However, I’m sure you will find the same warmth & kindness at the reservations in Ohio. People on a reservation will be happy to know that you respect all of your ancestry. They will in return respect you for doing so. If you want to know the dates of the Pow Wow’s in your area, just use the internet as a tool, & get the dates. Or simply call them & have the information mailed to you before the Pow Wow. If the media in your area doesn’t publish the dates on Pow Wow’s, then call the media & asked them why they ignore these important events.
I have gone through the same thing that you have regarding people asking about my ancestry. More often people just say, “Your Indian aren’t you”? Heres a good answer to the tribe question, that I have found to work; next time someone asks you what tribe you are from, just tell them you don’t have one, but your thinking of starting your own!
This most often makes people laugh, but a few times I have had to tell them that I was only joking. Then I tell them that we are known to be Cherokee. I use to say that I was “part Indian”, now I just say American Indian & European. I have to say that I have never been called a “wannabe”, as you said you kept running into this while doing your research. I’m sorry that you were treated this way. You asked whether the people on a reservation would want to know you, if you were to visit them. Well, the answer to that is yes. However, do you want to get to know them? That is the real question you need to ask yourself.
Sincerely,
CoheeLady
some pow wow
close to northern ohio and michigan
These are all indoors
september 28-29 Siena heights, michigan adrian michigan 220 cross street( our family will be there on the lumbee drum, we are saponi)close to ohio just over the boarder in michigan off l09. grand entry 1:00 constest pow wow
october 12-13 2002 ypsilanti michigan eastern michigan university. emu’s bowen field house grand entry 1 and 7 p.m. $6.00 adult $5.00 student children 4-12 $4.00
october 18-20 gallia county fair gallipolis ohio (a new pow wow)admission $4.00 sponsered by native american education and development association inc.
october 19-20 jackson michigan parkside middle school 2400 fourth street
take exit 138 off of I-94 follow west ave. south to location grand entry 1:00 and 7
admission $5.00 or $8.00 weekend student $3.00, seniors $1.00 age 12 and under free with adult.
Hope to see some of you!!
These are northern ohio and southern michigan pow wow’s if i find about more I will post.
Sees the lightening woman
wakinyan wanyanka winyan
Just wanted to get this off my chest everyone, Ohio has to be one of the worst states for ndn people!! I have lived in Ohio all my 51 years and everyday is a struggle for us. I have travelled from the Carolina’s into New York and Canada and felt more welcome anyother place but here!!! Ohio is rich with history and landmarks, there are no reservations at this time in Ohio, however, there were. Most of my family is from Virgina, most of my family are Saponi/Monacan, Saponi/Tuscarora, my mother and fathers lines seem to run together,and so it goes on and on. There are week-end ndn’s everywhere you go. I have met the whitest and blackest of NDN people, but who has the right to call anybody a wannabe? Ignorant, predjudice, jealous people!! Anybody hearing me? I work with a bunch of folks with that mentality, I keep tellin them one day I’ll be signing their checks if they don’t zip those lips##@*!!!
tasheaka
Sounds like stuff going on down here too, if that’s any comfort.
I was just thinking about you, hoping I have the time and short term memory to call you this week and see how you’re doing. I haven’t heard from any of you all in a while. Hope you’re all okay.
Linda,
Can only speak for myself, I’m hanging in here. It will be two years soon that my son was shot and the closer it gets the slimmer the chances are that anyone will be arrested. The system does not work for us, patience must prevail in this situation. It’s time for me to leave Dayton, have resume will travel. Please do give me a call, we need to chat!!
tasheaka
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