Ceremony Team Evaluation Guidelines

1. All ceremonial team members must be from the same lodge. Ceremonialists may perform with only one team per ceremony category; however, they may perform in more than one category.

2. All participants MUST be under 21 years of age on August 3, 2000 and be a member of the lodge entering the team competition.

3. All participants must wear appropriate American Indian style dress. The American Indian Activities staff will assist teams by critiquing the appropriateness of their outfits in a separate session. Dress will not be judged as a part of the performance evaluation; however, any show of disrespect, carelessness, or gross inappropriateness in American Indian dress may disqualify a team from receiving an award. Teams are strongly encouraged to pursue this critique!

4. Use of face and body paint is prohibited at all national ceremonial team competitions. Use of face or body skin coloring or wigs in simulation of ethnic traits is not acceptable.

5. All ceremonial parts MUST be fully memorized. Memorization will be evaluated in the Pre-Ordeal, Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil Honor evaluations using the 1999 revision to the ceremony publications:

• Pre-Ordeal/Ordeal: Ceremony for the Ordeal, BSA Number 34993, 1999 Printing
• Brotherhood: Ceremony for the Brotherhood, BSA Number 34994, 1999 Printing
• Vigil Honor: Ceremony for the Vigil Honor, BSA Number 34043, 1999 Printing

Memorization of Call-Out ceremonies will be evaluated according to the printed script provided by the team.

Please note and correct the following errors in the 1999 printing of the Ceremony for the Ordeal:
Diagram 6 on page 7 and 24; change "N" to "M" and "M" to "N"
Diagram 7 on page 8 and 24; change "N" to "A" and "A" to "M" and "M" to "N"
(Corrected pages are available for downloading.):

6. Lodges can enter as many ceremonial teams as they wish in all ceremonies as scheduling permits.

7. All lodges MUST pre-register for the NOAC Ceremony Evaluation before June 1, 2000. Pre-registering will help the staff plan for the necessary number of performance sites and judging staff positions needed.

8. Only pre-registered ceremonial teams will be guaranteed a place in the Ceremony Team Evaluation.

9. Teams that have not pre-registered MUST check-in during NOAC registration on Saturday at the Inductions and Ceremonial Events desk. These teams will be placed on a waiting list and scheduled as spaces become available. These teams will be given special instructions by the registration team.

10. All ceremonial teams MUST check-in on Saturday when their lodge contingent registers at the NOAC. An Inductions and Ceremonial Events desk will be set-up in the conference registration area. Ceremonial teams will verify their performance schedule and sign-up their team members by name. Ceremonial teams that do not check-in upon arrival will be replaced in the schedule by teams on the waiting list.

11. Ceremonial teams will provide whatever props they need to make their ceremony performance as realistic as possible. Extra people may be used to enhance a performance, such as drummers, candidates, Elangomats, etc. The staff will provide markers to indicate the locations of the central fire and places for fire pots in the performance area. A heavy burden will be provided for the Brotherhood ceremony.

12. Each team must be present and ready at their assigned time, even if the evaluators are running behind schedule. Each team MUST remain for the entire venue evaluation, approximately three hours, and participate by observing and evaluating other teams.

13. There will be three staff evaluators at each ceremonial site (two lead evaluators and one memorization judge). Each team will perform and be evaluated by the other two teams in their venue and will help decide the award rating (Participation, Achievement, Merit, or Honor) for each team. The evaluators will attempt to help the entire group reach a consensus on each of the factors that will be evaluated. The lead evaluators will make the final decision on each team's rating and announce each team's award.

14. Experienced ceremonialists from participating lodges who would like to volunteer for a judging/evaluating position should visit the Inductions and Ceremonial Events table at registration upon arrival at NOAC. Arrowmen who would like to apply for a Lead Evaluator position (the head of a venue) should should request a support staff application by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Lead Adviser:
        J. Terry Honan
        3355 Chimney Point Drive
        Cumming, GA 30041

We expect to have all Lead Evaluator positions filled before May 1, 2000. Please be aware that we will hold training for evaluators on Saturday July 29, 2000.

Inductions & Ceremonial Events Committee | Invitation Letter From the CVC | Ceremony Evaluation Details | Ceremony Evaluation Guidelines | Ceremony Evaluation Criteria | Ceremony Evaluation Definitions

Revised 3/27/00.