Attending a Pow-wow and need advice!

I am attending an Indian Pow-wow this weekend and would love any and all advice you can give me which may help me get some better pictures. I have a wide array of lenses from wide angle to 400mm but am unsure of what I should take with me. I am leaning toward my 70-200 for the majority of my portraits since I can take some candid stuff without getting in anybodys face. Would I get much use from a wide angle lens? I don't know. I am trying to keep it down to 2 lenses and 1 body, probably my 1DsMkii although it is kinda heavy....I will take a monopod as well. Anybody have any experience with these kind of events?? Thanks in advance!

Take the 100-400 for some close-up shots of the dancers and drum. Your 28-75 will do well for capturing the grand entry and wider dance shots. Pay attention if they announce "no photos" during certain portions of the festivities. They are serious and if the powwow is on a rez you can lose your gear for breaking the rules. Make sure to post your shots - love to see them.

Taking the wide angle might be useful if you want to shoot intently

in tent ly

crickets...

I would go with 17-40 and 70-200. Capture the environmental shots and the other for close ups

Thanks for the advice guys. The pow-wow will be located in a park, so not on a reservation. I will pay attention for any announcements regarding photography for sure. I am thinking about taking the 17-40 and the 100-400.....I would like to take all 3 mentioned lenses but carrying that much gear might be a bit much. Perhaps I will leave the third one in the trunk just in case I feel the need. I will post what I get when I finish the processing! Thanks again.

Be sure and ask the master of ceremonies just to be sure , he will give you a heads up .
I have shot several in my time for a local dance group , usually the grand entrance and when the dancers pay honor to the drum is a no no ...

Will do Mr. Doll.....I do not intend to step on anybodys toes. One of my photog friends who is accompanying me on this shoot is a full blooded Cherokee who has attended many of these events. She is up on the dos and don'ts, so as long as I stick near her I shouldn't have too many problems. Really looking forward to this event as there should be lots of colors and faces to shoot.....got all my lenses cleaned and batteries charged...ready for action!!

Cool can't wait to see the images ...

It turns out that this was a VERY small event. Without a lot of dancers the opportunities were a bit limited and since it was a very hot day I limited my carry equipment to my 1dsmkii with a 70-200 for the vast majority of the shots. The sky was a cobalt blue and the light was bright and very hard so I am basically unimpressed with my final images but the colors did show well. I could have used a wider lens for the drum shots as well. I did learn that the people at these events are begging for photographic help and a few well chosen and friendly words can get you just about anywhere you would like to go. This was a very informal event and the MC told us to shoot anything we wanted with no restrictions and even granted us access to the drum tent so we could get out of the sun and stay a bit more comfortable. The organizers were extremely accommodating to any of our needs and were glad to have us there. I learned a lot even though I only got a little over 100 images with a lot of them being very similar. I would like to have been able to shoot during the evening when the light would have been better but previous engagements prevented me from staying much after 1:30pm. Critique all you like as I always welcome CC good or bad!

Considering the time of day you were shooting, I think they turned out very nice. You might consider straightening some of the images and perhaps cropping a little closer to eliminate some of the distractions. On the 5th image, I think I'd crop out the partial dancer. You might also consider cleaning up the shadows (bystanders, perhaps?) and other things on the carpet.

Thanks for the input bob...I didn't do too much to these as posted but I did print a couple and crop a bit to eliminate the aforementioned things. I was basically unimpressed with what I got so I lacked the inspiration to go the extra mile....I was praying for some overcast and never got it.

Here are a few more that I actually like a bit better than the ones I already posted