Valerie Roig of France

[quicksilverwade]

I stumbled across this French woman named Valerie Roig.  She seems to represent us and is charging money for cultural demonstations in France.  She claims to be a jingle dress dancer.  Here she is on youtube at the Gathering of Nations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8gXYR56rXg

And here she is at her worst:

http://powwows-dream.com/nous.html

http://powwows-dream.com/photo.html

[educatedindian]

This is a little different from what we usually look into, but I think worth bringing it up. The issue is not that she is a nonNative dancing at powwows, or even seeking to have powwows over in Europe, but that she charges for demonstrations and claims to teach powwow dancing.

Not much about her online that isn't in French except her facebook page. Here's a discussion at powwows.com.
http://www.powwows.com/gathering/pow-wow-talk/56198-french-dancers-uco-powwow-10.html

[quicksilverwade]

here are her rates for cultural demonstrations:

[nemesis]

Just a thought, but those are some interesting looking feathers in the photos of that woman.  Are they eagle feathers?

There are strict laws governing the acquisition and possession of such items under EU wildlife legislation.

I very much doubt that she owns the necessary licenses to own such items.

I know who to report such violations to in the UK but am not so knowledgeable about France, although I could ask my contacts who would know if it would be helpful.

[piya]

Nemesis,

Looking at the feathers, they are not genuine eagle feathers. They look like the hand painted replica ones you can get hold of from craft suppliers.

[Cetan]

They look like turkey feathers

[nemesis]

Thanks for the clarification.

Eagles I can ID, but identifying eagle feathers are beyond my abilities.

[quicksilverwade]

This is a little different from what we usually look into, but I think worth bringing it up. The issue is not that she is a nonNative dancing at powwows, or even seeking to have powwows over in Europe, but that she charges for demonstrations and claims to teach powwow dancing.

Not much about her online that isn't in French except her facebook page. Here's a discussion at powwows.com.
http://www.powwows.com/gathering/pow-wow-talk/56198-french-dancers-uco-powwow-10.html

strange on how this thread has been deleted by the moderators at powwows.com

[dabosijigwokush]

in the videos it looks like most of the dancers do not know the dance?

[apukjij]

not strange at all, its owned by a non-native, and chock full of the most vile wannabees, frauds, and culture vultures. after joining you will find out there's no option to delete your acct. i had to threaten the admin twice to get removed from their website.

[quicksilverwade]

yes, the non-native boy scout paul gowder.

[quicksilverwade]

I see that Valerie Roig has started to prowl for answers on southern cloth style to add to her fake performances.

[Teacher]

According to their website, they have a non-profit organization in order to organize powwows in France and promote Amerindian dance and powwows.  They claim to be

"... adopted by Darell (Seminol) {sic} and Karen (Cherokee and Muskogee) Chotkey.  We are not
(t)here to "play Indian" but only to represent a people and their dances in the best way possible and to teach people that do not know (about them).

Our philosophy is: being given what is not our culture, nor our dances, nor our traditions, we must be as perfect as possible 

We realize (make) our own dance outfits and accessories. 

This culture reteaches us values, tolerance, sharing, non-judgement, humility, friendship, family and honor. 

While the values of our cultures are only for individualilty, greed, the want of more, the thirst for power and money! 

We've been many times to the USA and danced at powwows, our experience allows us to present to you quality presentations that are faithful to the powwows in the USA.

Apologies if some of my translations are not 100%, it's been a few years since I've been asked to do any "technical translating".   

[Teacher]

Also, just found out that her husband Sébastien and I have a mutual friend on Facebook -- AIM Santa Barbara ... interesting, eh?