This is how I remember Cherokee sounding......

[PNG NDN Fan]

For years the band would also chant "Beat 'em, Beat 'em, Beat 'em Black and Blue" as they marched off the field to cadence. Haven't heard that in years.

 

[modmouse78]

What is it going to take to make some changes?

 

[IndianFan]

Good question. I don't make it to many games so the change is very noticeable. It's nothing like the PNG bands of previous years. In the past the band sparked the fans and was a major part of the game experience. Now they can barely be heard and, as everyone has mentioned, our signature fight song is just not the same.

 

[NDNmom91]

What is it going to take to make some changes?

Who knows, but, I think as much energy needs to be put into this as was put into the head coach situation. To me, and many of us, what has happened with Cherokee is not a minor issue and deserves to be addressed. That song is one of the things that makes PNG what it is, it is known around the state, and it is unique, we need to make our feelings known, especially going into next year with a new stadium and a new head coach! Like someone else said, Cherokee used to spark a fire in everyone, and now it almost puts us to sleep :zzz:, and that is a shame! I don't know where these band directors came from, but they need to know how serious this is to the community, players, and students!

I don't know what to do, maybe start with a letter or phone call to the principal? I also think if ANY of the current band parents feel the same way, they could be very influential in bringing about a change. I know at least one of the band parents and she told me that her child was very disappointed with the way Cherokee was being played. She said she wanted to be in band since she was little and couldn't wait until she was in high school to get to play that famous song (like she knew it as a child), and when she finally got to that point she just hated the way they had to play it ! She said her daughter is graduating this year, but she really hopes someone, somehow, can push for it to be changed.

Maybe if nothing else, we could start a petition and deliver it to the band directors along with a recording of what Cherokee used to sound like, what do ya'll think? We could put one in Market Basket and DQ in PN and Groves? Is there anything special that has to be done to start a petition, or do you just start one? I've never done it, so I have no clue where to begin, maybe someone who's familiar with this could do it. Maybe it's not the best way, but at least it's a start. Just my two cents

 

[modmouse78]

i am not sure, but will help in whatever way that i can. Just let me know how i can help and it will be done.

 

[bandkid]

The band directors came from TJ and Hamshire-Fannett. The head band director student-taught at Nederland. His father was a band director as well. That's why they're so focused on the quality of the note. It's what they were taught. And lets face it, in most cases, that's not a bad thing. But Cherokee needs to be blasted and played fast. Go to the principal or one of the directors and say that. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Fan-based intervention is what got us marching the "I" off the field again. There's no doubt in my mind that it could have the same effect with Cherokee.

 

[EX79NDN]

In some cases quality is good....but in worse case senerio we could say it is where they are from (Vidor and TJ). They are trying to mess up Cherokee on purpose by using the quality excuse! :guns: You know the other schools never did like hearing Cherokee... Maybe they are slowing it down on purpose ??? Just a thought!!!! :crazy:

 

[IndianFan]

A fight song isn't intended to be played at a competition right? It's for the team and fans and should be LOUD, up-tempo, and LOUD! Loud enough for the entire stadium to hear. Loud enough to block out the band on the other side of the field which is what they have been doing to Cherokee. More brass and bass sound is needed as well.

It should be played by the band with fun and excitement. :woot: Not at a mind numbing pace :zzz: just to make sure the notes are played to perfection. Band directors, please help bring back some of the game excitement that has always been the signature of PNG Indian football games.

http://www.pngindians.com/multimedia/cherokee.mp3

 

[NDNmom91]

A fight song isn't intended to be played at a competition right? It's for the team and fans and should be LOUD, up-tempo, and LOUD! Loud enough for the entire stadium to hear. Loud enough to block out the band on the other side of the field which is what they have been doing to Cherokee. More brass and bass sound is needed as well.

It should be played by the band with fun and excitement. :woot: Not at a mind numbing pace :zzz: just to make sure the notes are played to perfection. Band directors, please help bring back some of the game excitement that has always been the signature of PNG Indian football games.

http://www.pngindians.com/multimedia/cherokee.mp3

A-freakin-MEN!!! I know when I was in band way back when, we were always told and expected to play Cherokee with everything we had. The exact words that were said to us were.."If we can still hear the band on the other side, then ya'll aren't playing it loud enough!!" We actually got a speach if we held back on Cherokee! I distincly remember nights where we may had been playing it a little sluggish, and Mr. A and Mr. W would say..."what are ya'll trying to do...put all of us to sleep?" I certainly don't see that attitude with the current directors, maybe EX79NDN is right, it's a conspiricy because everyone knows how TJ HATED PNG, especially our fight song, I should know, I'm married to an ex-jacket football player .

Anyone remember how TJ would mock our fight song by playing it REALLY, REALLY slow, and singing "poor little NDN boys, we're gonna beat them NDN boys." Hmmm....Cherokee kinda sounds the same now, coincidence...I think not...LOL! Seriously though, I really don't think they're doing it on purpose, I just think it's hard to understand if you're not a born and bread NDN. I think this situation is where it would help to have someone who bleeds purple in that position. I know of one former NDN band member that graduated in '88, when I was a Freshman, that went on to be the Band Director at Livingston, not sure if he is still there, but
i always though it would be GREAT if he could come back and lead our band, he's a great guy and an even better musician with great leadership skills and he was there when the NDN band was at it's best and would want it to be that way again. I'm sure that will never happen, but I just think we may need someone like that to bring the fire back to the band and make them a force to be reconded with at competition again. Who knows, maybe the current leaders will listen to the fans and try and make some changes, we can only hope.

 

[NDNmom91]

Ok, I think I located the guy I was referring to in my previous post. His name is Mark Weldon, and he's now the Band Director at Huffman Middle School, not sure where Huffman is, but I do know it's in TX. Maybe I could email him and ask him to call our Band Directors and educate them about how Cherokee is supposed to be played...LOL! Anyway, if and when the day comes that PNG is in the market for another band director, I hope they will try and recruit him, he would be an excellent choice.

 

[IndianFan]

You know, a lot of people from other communities may think all the discussion about a fight song is silly.

But seriously, with the upcoming changes to the football program, the new stadium being fully operational, and the fact that the football program is at a crossroads, it's important to get these things right. Indian football games need every ounce of spirit and energy the can be mustered.

Local folks may not like this being said or agree, but in some ways the traditions and spirit of PNG have become a shadow of what they once were. The same level of spirit is no longer there. That is evident with the reduced road support, and lack of energy in the stands that everyone has noticed the past several years. Some things need to be tweaked and maybe even changed to get back to the great PN-G Indian spirit that once topped anything in the state. (Even the mighty 'MOJO' spirit.) Maybe some new things should be introduced.

A grass roots effort to discuss this with the right people needs to be made. The entire community and student body is for this. The band directors need to be directed to make the change with the fight song. And maybe even introduce some livelier shows at halftime.

 

[EX79NDN]

A fight song isn't intended to be played at a competition right? It's for the team and fans and should be LOUD, up-tempo, and LOUD! Loud enough for the entire stadium to hear. Loud enough to block out the band on the other side of the field which is what they have been doing to Cherokee. More brass and bass sound is needed as well.

It should be played by the band with fun and excitement. :woot: Not at a mind numbing pace :zzz: just to make sure the notes are played to perfection. Band directors, please help bring back some of the game excitement that has always been the signature of PNG Indian football games.

http://www.pngindians.com/multimedia/cherokee.mp3

A-freakin-MEN!!! I know when I was in band way back when, we were always told and expected to play Cherokee with everything we had. The exact words that were said to us were.."If we can still hear the band on the other side, then ya'll aren't playing it loud enough!!" We actually got a speach if we held back on Cherokee! I distincly remember nights where we may had been playing it a little sluggish, and Mr. A and Mr. W would say..."what are ya'll trying to do...put all of us to sleep?" I certainly don't see that attitude with the current directors, maybe EX79NDN is right, it's a conspiricy because everyone knows how TJ HATED PNG, especially our fight song, I should know, I'm married to an ex-jacket football player .

Anyone remember how TJ would mock our fight song by playing it REALLY, REALLY slow, and singing "poor little NDN boys, we're gonna beat them NDN boys." Hmmm....Cherokee kinda sounds the same now, coincidence...I think not...LOL! Seriously though, I really don't think they're doing it on purpose, I just think it's hard to understand if you're not a born and bread NDN. I think this situation is where it would help to have someone who bleeds purple in that position. I know of one former NDN band member that graduated in '88, when I was a Freshman, that went on to be the Band Director at Livingston, not sure if he is still there, but
i always though it would be GREAT if he could come back and lead our band, he's a great guy and an even better musician with great leadership skills and he was there when the NDN band was at it's best and would want it to be that way again. I'm sure that will never happen, but I just think we may need someone like that to bring the fire back to the band and make them a force to be reconded with at competition again. Who knows, maybe the current leaders will listen to the fans and try and make some changes, we can only hope.

I am glad I am not the only one that remembers how TJ would mock Cherokee. NDNmom91 you bring up another good point that I have been meaning to mention. We always talk about how no one stands during Cherokee anymore. I always stand, but than again I was born, raised and graduated from PNG. Alot of our students or should I say students parents, grand parents etc. where not. Unless you are (as I call it) true blood, some just really do not know or understand our traditions. Than again some are still other alumni at heart. Some of you may think I am crazy for what I am saying but I know for a fact what I am saying is true. For example their is a family that their girls where raised and graduated from the PNG school district. But the two parents where ex-alumni from TJ. Even though their daughters where in Indianettes they never stood for Cherokee unless someone said something to them. Then laughingly they would stand. Another example their is another family that their daughter is just now a first year Indianette and her father (I am not sure about her mother) is also an ex TJ alumni. Another example was at the last game I saw a older couple that is in my mothers club. They where there to watch their grand daughter. Both of them graduated from Bishop Byurn. We sat behind them at the last home game and they never stood for Cherokee. Why....you ask, do these people not stand for Cherokee???? Because they where not raised to stand for Cherokee. They where raised to stand and clap for "their" alumni. Even though, they are there with season tickets to support their family member...they are not there (in their hearts) to support PNG traditions and Cherokee. :nono: Sad but true. I was raised in the same church with the first two families in my examples. Matter of fact we all graduated the same year. ld: I remember back then the rivalry at church the Sunday after games. Three of the adults mentioned would always say they would never support PNG. They where TJ through and through. I know times change and people grow up. But you do not stray to far from your roots. The first time I saw them at a PNG function I could not believe my eyes. When I jokingly asked them if they where lost, they replied...I am only here to support my family member. I still bleed maroon and gold!

This could be some of the reason we have trouble getting crowd participation today. To many in plants not enough true blood. WE need to start educating these in plants. If they want to call theirself Indians, than they need to be an Indian. Through and through!!! To many of our alumni have moved off (including myself) and to many of our neighbors have moved in. Our neighbors children are being raised as Indians but our neighbors are still ex alumni from other schools. They still remember their alumni's traditions. :helmet:

 

[NDNmom91]

I know ex79, I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around why the "fans" were not respecting our fight song and traditions as in years past, then I started thinking about it harder. My own situation for example helped me to figure it out. I am a "true blood" NDN, lived in Pt. Neches my whole life. My husband on the other hand is a TJ grad. We dated each other in high school, and loved each other deeply, except for one week out of the year...LOL! When we were looking for a home I was hoping and praying we'd find one in P.N., but he was not so eager, even though he did NOT want to live in PA, but he said he'd rather live in Ned, than in P.N.! As most women do, I got my way, and we found a nice home in P.N., I told him then and there that he would have to accept the fact that he was now a NDN, and our children will be "brainwashed", as they call it, to the ways of the NDN's. It was really hard for him, and has taken several years, but he now dons the Purple N White with the rest of us, and yes..he STANDS for cherokee, usually after he gets an elbow jab to the side from me... :ha:! I have to put myself in his place, what if we would have bought a home in Ned, would I get into their traditions and school spirit as I did my own, probably not. Would I get goose bumps when I heard their fight song played, doubt it, why?...because it's not my "home", nor did I grow up being taught these things like the ones who have been there their whole lives.

We have to think that ALOT of our current NDN fans went to the schools that were our biggest rivals and they were taught to despise PNG, and now they have to "reteach" theirselves to love it, it has to be a very hard thing to do. I know my brother had a very hard time becoming a bulldog after he and his wife settled in Ned, he had dreams of his kids being NDN's as he was, but it didn't happen that way. He learned to accept it and support his kids, but he was always a NDN at heart. I think it's easier for the ones that moved here from areas further away to become a true NDN, then the ones that moved here from right across the tracks.

So, I said all that to say this, I understand where the "transplants" are coming from, but I think it would be easier for them to get into the pride and spirit of PNG if our leaders would keep our traditions the same as they have been for years even if it means they have to be "taught" these things if they are not originally from here. If a band director or coach is hired that has never been a NDN, then I think he or she needs to be required to learn the traditions that make PNG special and promise to uphold those things throughout the time they are here. As far as the band directors go, I feel they should have the liberty to make any changes they see fit and bring in their own ideas and techniques, EXCEPT where Cherokee is concerned! I think they should be told before they take the job that "this is our fight song, listen to it, learn it, teach it, but DON'T change it!!" So, YES, I agree that everyone of us who wants something done about this needs to get together and bring this to leaders of the school, it's the only way we will see any changes. We should explain to the band directors that we understand that they did not grow up here, but they need to put thereselves in our place. How would they feel if they went back to the school that they grew up in and someone had come in and changed the fight song to something they almost didn't recognize. Yes, I'm sure alot of people think this is silly, but many more think it's not, so what are we going to do about? I'm ready....are you?

 

[EX79NDN]

NDNmom91, I agree with you and really understand the feelings about Cherokee and our traditions. As you can tell, my high school years where in the "70's glory days". Even though my husband had a job that caused us to travel around alot, I still taught my children our Indian traditions. My girls as they where growing up went to many PNG football games. Out of my three girls only my middle one was able to graduated from PNG (2000).

Even though today I do not live in the PNG school district I do not live to far away. I have no problem calling, writting, or even coming to town (I go to Groves just about every other week anyway). What ever it takes to try to get Cherokee changed back to its original form, but I am not sure how we should approach this. I do feel we would get a better response if their is more than one alumni complaining.

Maybe if their is some way where there is a generic letter posted on this web site. Than everyone that wanted to could copy and paste it to an email (that way they could use their real name). The email could be addressed to the band directors and CC to the principal and school board members. Just an idea. What does everyone think??? I am game for anything. A petition would be OK but their is alot of alumni that visit this board who live out of the area. If a petition was left somewhere locally not all alumni would be able to sign it, only local people. Just a thought.

O and by the way. My husband graduated from Athens Texas. When we met all he really knew about the Mid County area was that they had hurricanes, refineries and a outstanding football team with a lot of fan support. ;D I smiled, than laughed and told him, yep that is the school I graduated from!!!! :woot:

 

[modmouse78]

We need to get the ball rolling. I have sent an email to the principal to find out what we can do to fix this. Just awaiting an answer. i will post what i find out.

 

[PNG NDN Fan]

Ok, I think I located the guy I was referring to in my previous post. His name is Mark Weldon, and he's now the Band Director at Huffman Middle School, not sure where Huffman is, but I do know it's in TX. Maybe I could email him and ask him to call our Band Directors and educate them about how Cherokee is supposed to be played...LOL! Anyway, if and when the day comes that PNG is in the market for another band director, I hope they will try and recruit him, he would be an excellent choice.

I remember Mark, he was a Frosh during my Senior year. Talented player back then as well as (I'm sure) now. Huffman is on the East side of Lake Houston on FM1960.

 

[EX79NDN]

We need to get the ball rolling. I have sent an email to the principal to find out what we can do to fix this. Just awaiting an answer. i will post what i find out.

Great let us know what response you get. I would be more than happy to help in anyway I can. Just let me know.

 

[NDNmom91]

We need to get the ball rolling. I have sent an email to the principal to find out what we can do to fix this. Just awaiting an answer. i will post what i find out.

Great let us know what response you get. I would be more than happy to help in anyway I can. Just let me know.

GREAT! I'm glad to know we've got something going. I think Ex79's idea of a generic letter everyone could copy n paste and put their name and email to the directors and principle. Maybe we could do both the petition and the online letter since there are ALOT of people that support this that may not have access to a computer or the internet. I just think we're gonna have to prove this is a BIG issue with the community and not just a few people complaining on a message board, so we have to find a way to reach everyone in PN and Groves who feels the same and let them know what is going on. Anyway, just glad to know we got the ball rolling! :woohoo:

 

[NDNmom91]

Ok, I think I located the guy I was referring to in my previous post. His name is Mark Weldon, and he's now the Band Director at Huffman Middle School, not sure where Huffman is, but I do know it's in TX. Maybe I could email him and ask him to call our Band Directors and educate them about how Cherokee is supposed to be played...LOL! Anyway, if and when the day comes that PNG is in the market for another band director, I hope they will try and recruit him, he would be an excellent choice.

I remember Mark, he was a Frosh during my Senior year. Talented player back then as well as (I'm sure) now. Huffman is on the East side of Lake Houston on FM1960.

Yep, Mark was my section leader when I was a Fresh. He was/is a GREAT musician and a great leader, everyone respected him. He was very passionate about PNG and the band and strived to bring out perfection in all of us. I went on to stay either 2nd or 3rd chair all four years and did well at many solo n ensemble competitions and I think he had alot to do with it. I have often wondered if the situation presented itself if he would want a job at PNG. I know ALOT of us are wanting someone without PNG ties to be the head coach, but I think it would be beneficial to have a "true blood" in the Band Director position, but I also think it doesn't have to be that way if the principle and school board would make sure there were certain restrictions in place to keep our traditions solid and keep anyone from changing things. Change is good, but not in this situation.

 

[EX79NDN]

Hey what does everyone think about forming a committee. Say called....."Save our Traditions Committee". That committee could be made up of older alumni, current alumni, and maybe some current students. The committee would be responsible for overseeing that ALL PNG Indian traditions are upheld. They could also be the ones that comes up with new ideas on how to education the fans, community, and new Indian students (new students to the district or even students in elementary and Jr. high) on the rich traditions of PNG. They could be some what like an PNG Traditions Booster! They could also have a thread on here to keep all who visit this web site up to date on past, future and current events having to do with PNG or PNG traditions.

You know living out of town or out of state it gets real hard for an alumni to keep up with things that are happening at PNG. That is one of the things that brought me to the web site in the first place. I also wish there was a place for ex alumni's could post fellow class mates or teachers that have passed away. If it wasn't for my mother still being local I would never know a lot about any of my fellow class mates or old teachers. Even then their are some that she misses. I know on the PNGISD web site their is a place (sectioned off by graduation year) where an alumni can post a little bit about themselves. Their is also a place for reunions, but I wish their was a place set up kind of like the alumni sight by graduation year where a person could post memorials on fellow class mates and teachers would be nice. Maybe some how on this sight, something like that could be set up. Well mods, what do you think????