OKA KAPASSA: RETURN TO COLDWATER
Tuscumbia, Alabama - September 10 & 11, 2010






Festival Committee
Members

Terry McGee
Chairperson

Ellen Goode

Larry Gullett

Tom Hendrix

Lezlie Martin

Jim McNees

John McWilliams


Native American
Advisory Board
Members

Ladonna Brown
Chickasaw

Juanita Gardinski
Choctaw

Freeman Owle
Cherokee

Jason Sylestine
Alabama-Coushatta

Robert Thrower
Poarch Creek
Festival Guidelines


The Oka Kapassa Festival is a cultural and educational event and is not planned as a pow-wow and does not follow pow-wow protocol. The Oka Kapassa Festival's main purpose is to invite Native Americans to share their heritage through crafts, dance, demonstrations, storytelling, and music. The committee for the Oka Kapassa Festival strives to bring the best and most knowledgeable people each year to display each aspect of Native American culture.

We receive our funding through grants and donations. A consultant group made up of Native Americans also advises the committee. This Native American Advisory Board is comprised of participants from the Alabama, Coushatta, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw tribes. No one on the committee or Native American Advisory Board receives any financial compensation; these are all volunteer personnel. There is no admission charge for the second day of the event. No fee is charged to Native Americans for participation. Grants and donations help fund them based on approval of arrangements by the committee.

Requirements for Native American participants are as follows:
  • All Native American participants must be members of a federally recognized tribe and/or hold a CDIB card which certifies a minimum of one-fourth Indian descent.
  • The spouse and children of participants are not required to hold a CDIB card, but the main person demonstrating or participating must have the above qualification.
  • The Oka Kapassa Festival Committee may occasionally invite a non-Native American demonstrator. These participants will be invited based on their knowledge and skills related to the Native American culture and ability to educate students and community members. The committee will limit these participants and they must be approved by the collaborative Native American Advisory Board and/or a letter of recommendation from the federally recognized tribe they represent.
  • The Oka Kapassa Festival Committee is responsible only for participants invited and approved by committee members. The Oka Kapassa Festival Committee is not responsible for participants scheduled for other community events.
  • The Oka Kapassa Festival follows a scheduled event format to showcase invited dance groups and music.
These guidelines are formulated to maintain the integrity of the Oka Kapassa Festival and to ensure the cultural and educational goals set forth by the committee and Native American Advisory Board.

Revisions to these Oka Kapassa Festival guidelines will be based upon the consent of the Oka Kapassa Festival Committee and Native American Advisory Board.

The IRS has classified the OKA KAPASSA FESTIVAL, INC. as a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. All donations and gifts to the Festival are tax-deductible.


This page last updated 8/17/10.