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Yellow Bird: UND powwow survives budget woes
Monday, March 10, 2008
Filed Under: Opinion

"A bare-bones budget almost canceled the 39th annual Time-Out Powwow at UND. After a lot of agonizing and restructuring the budget, American Indians students were able to commit to the 2008 powwow. Its Time-Out panels and programs are scheduled for April 14-17, and the powwow will be April 18-20.

It has been 39 years since the university, with the help of then-President Tom Clifford, developed plans to try to bring understanding to the community regarding American Indians through the Time-Out week and powwow.

When I heard rumors that the powwow would be canceled, I called B.J. Rainbow, UND Indian Association president. Rainbow and I have been friends for several years. He is one of those dedicated young family men who is a future leader.

This year, he told me, the budget just didn’t seem to work, but they pushed on. Every year, it seems to become tougher and tougher for the students to put aside their classes to raise money. This year was almost the breaker.

The university doesn’t always understand why they have a need for a budget, Rainbow told me. The students have been asked why drummers, singers and dancers need to be paid. It’s like any other performer, speaker or author that the university brings to the campus, except that these groups of entertainers work for much less money because they love the art, he said."

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Dorreen Yellow Bird: ‘Powwow fever’ spreads before event (The Grand Forks Herald 3/8)
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