Improvements In Traditions : Camp Tahquitz

In his autobiography Life Lessons from Little League, Vincent Fortanasce says “Winning is never final, and losing is never fatal.” At the end of a game, one team will win and the other will lose. Failure to accept this concept has become detrimental to American youth sports organizations. Our society has become infatuated with winning, and all of the additional perks associated with it. What is considered the “best” for children as young as five years old has grown to an unrealistic extent. Parents want their children to be in a reputable organization, young athletes want to play with highly skilled teammates, and coaches want to recruit talented players all in hopes of being the absolute “best”. The amount of young athletes, ranging from five to fourteen years old, participating in local sports organizations has declined within the last two decades due to the highly competitive and unhealthy environments they are being exposed to.Taking pride in your local community has decreased form an athletic point of view. Representing the place I grew up in was a motivating factor when I put my uniform on for every single softball game I played in high school. I had the privilege to play on the field next to girls I had grown to love the sport with ever since our tee ball days. Today, young athletes are branching out from their homegrown roots to play for club teams who recruit players from a larger region. The popularity of traveling teams has substantially diluted the

A Native American Pow Wow is the Native American ceremonies which have evolved from a formal ceremony of the past into a modern variety of dance, family reunion, and festival. It contains with the colorful tribal dance contests, handmade product, crafts show, tipis, and singing. As a social skill, Powwow is the Native American’s best way of meeting together to join in dancing, singing, making new friends. Dances play an essential part of the life of the Native American. Over the years, even dance styles and content have changed, but their profound meaning and importance have not.

The summary of Chapter 6 is that community sports and youth in North America are somewhat offered a variety of settings such as private sports clubs, schools, and recreation center across the globe. There are several types of sport structures that create many management challenges including conflicts over the goal of an organization, accessibility, the management of volunteers, and financial likelihood. Even though the sport participation continues to grow both in the U.S. and Canada, the opportunities are widely based on topography and gender meaning places like rural areas or gender types such as females are still lagging in access to the sport participation. Families, societies, and individuals benefit from physical activity and sport. The

When I was very young, my parents would take me and my sister to powwows, which are Native American social gatherings. Singing, dancing, and feasting are all characteristic of the powwow, as powwows serve as a means of experiencing Native American culture. During my time at the powwow held at UCSD, I served as an audience member for many of the traditional Native American performances. Through the viewing of these performances, I gained much insight into their symbolism and significance, and I was also able to contextualize some topics discussed in the course.

Youth sports in general is being reshaped because of how competitive americans are becoming. Every aspect of kids’ sports has become hypercompetitive hyper organized, and all consuming. The craziness in the culture of kids sports has led to the realization the world has changed. An estimated 40 million young adults are participating in a variety of organized sports For those 40 million apart of organized sports they have to give an almost total commitment to playing and being apart of the team (Ferguson). Sports are considered to be a shared cultural experience between many children, and they can

The days of living off the land have long since passed. Junior says, “… my mother stood in line to get us commodities. We carried them home, happy to have food, and opened the canned beef that even the dogs wouldn’t eat” (Alexie2). The Spokane reservation doesn’t provide any means for them to provide for their families on their own. They rely in large part on the government to supply their basic living necessities. This type of reliance doesn’t allow for other traditions such as the quilting Junior references or other traditions such as basket weaving. Perhaps the lack of traditions that are left is what brings us full circle to why the class reunions are held in the local

Attending my first Native American powwow was a very intriguing cultural experience to be apart of, and that I was grateful I was able to attend. This was an event that I would not have attended if it were not for this project and I ended up learning a lot about this culture that is around us. Every Native American tribe has their own version of this culture, however, all tribes gather in a powwow, a cultural event that strengthens the unity of the tribe. My informants name is Gary Watson, an elderly man, who has attended powwows for many years. He and his wife were participants in the powwow this year and were also there to watch their grandchildren participate for the first time. I

As part of their efforts to educate others about the true Native image, this small group of Natives put on the first Annual Stanford Pow Wow. The event in the 1970’s was not as big as the Pow Wow everyone has come to know and love today. But the same reasons for having the event motivated that group of Natives: education and experiencing true Native cultures.

The Shawnee Tribe has endured its fair share of obstacles, especially pre-21st century. Now, in the present day, the Shawnee have to make adjustments to daily life in order to thrive. That meant that the large group would split into three large groupings, the Eastern Shawnee, Absentee Shawnee, and Loyal Shawnee. This split and further developments led the tribe to reject certain customs and traditions. But this was necessary for the tribe in order to take their part in modern day society. Of the three groupings, the Loyal Shawnee keep a great deal of their culture

Over the course of the year I was able to coach the Native Youth Olympics team at Snowshoe Elementary school in Wasilla, Alaska. Through coaching, I was able to take away valuable knowledge about the Native Alaskan Culture. The games allowed us to partake in many Alaskan events and learn traditions. As a result of participating in the games, I was able to learn valuable lessons and resources to use in my classroom at Snowshoe Elementary such as the arm pull. The Native Youth Olympics allows

Pow-wow is a rich traditional dance embraced and practiced by the various native Indian tribes such as Ponca, Kiowa among others. Often, celebrated with dancing, tribal drums, food and chanting in the circle. It was originally known as Pau wau, a healing ceremony overseen by the traditional leaders. In 1977, as the white man started occupying the Native American lands, their army forced the Ponca people from the northern plains of Nebraska to the Indian lands. Many Poncas lost their lives, however, they were survived by their culture and songs. Pow-wow was then adopted by other Indian tribes who started dancing it in their own tradition way. This essay shall discuss how Pow-wow tradition evolved and why it was so important to the tribal people.

The first group I joined as a child was the Y-Indian Guides. It was the YMCA’s version of the Cub Scouts, using the traditions of American Indians. It was not to make light of the Indian culture, rather to build strong character in boys using native themes. It was 1971 and the group, my brother and I took part was led by my father. Each boy had to take a new name. I was Running Wolf, with my father Gray Wolf, and my little brother was Little Bear. I am sure my father’s desire was to bond as he had with his father.

At Dallas Valley, sometimes there are long days with a lot of work. As an LIT, I put in hundreds of volunteer hours. However, this truly pales in comparison to the work that my program directors did each week. They had late nights, early mornings and unpredictable days. Even still, their workload did not come close to those who worked in the background like the administrators, custodians and maintenance. After only seeing a glimpse of their work, made me appreciate all they do for the camp as a whole. Without them, the camp would not run smoothly or at all. There is one man who works harder, and ages faster, than those mentioned above - Chris Theissen. Chris has to be a father to not only his four children, but to the hundreds of staff who

Since the creation of man, sports have had a tremendous role in the way people live their lives. From the time we are born, until our elderly age, most of us are involved in some way with sports. Whether it is a scrimmage game of soccer at recess in elementary school, playing on the varsity athletic team or simply watching the Olympics or sporting events on television, sports have an influential role in our everyday lives. The outstanding popularity of the sports industry has profoundly affected youth sports organizations that an estimated twenty-six million children ages six through eighteen participate in at least one school or community based athletic program (Smith & Smoll, 1997). Well structured sport programs can provide youths with

There are few differences in the way men and women behave and contribute to camp life. Both the husband and the wife raise the children; and, although generally men take care of hunting (using bamboo blowpipes and