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Originally Posted by aiontay
Battera, here in Oklahoma that is pretty much the rap on the Cherokees, but I’ll have to tell you it actually is rather unfair. I can assure you that I have been in plenty of Indian gatherings, but the only ones I’ve been in where everybody was speaking the native language were over in Cherokee country. I was at a stomp dance at Rocky Ford a couple of summers ago that was pretty Cherokee. Modern day powwows aren’t exactly the best place to go for tribally specific culture anyway.
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Don't get me wrong, they have gone back to earlier garb in some cases and modernized it in others. I am not saying they don't have any at all. And yes some still speak Cherokee in both the Eastern and Western bands. Like you I too have been to events. Some kept elements of their older culture when others modernized before the Trail of Tears. A lot was lost though.
By the way, I am part Cherokee (as well as Filipino and Scots-Irish).
I agree that powwows are not the place to experience pure tribal cultures, especially since they are "Pan-Indian".