The week before the 1995 NPC Nationals, Ivory "Papoose" Turner III became a daddy for the second time as his wife, Monica, delivered a baby brother for ten year-old Ivory Turner IV by the anme of Ramone Daniel. Just a week later, in the high pressure heat generated on the New Orleans stage, Turner coolly claimed the lightweight title at the biggest amateur contest this country has to offer.

"I still look back at that week as if it were a dream," Turner Admits. "It was such a great week, having my baby boy and them being able to put everything together for the nationals. I felt really good about my condition before I got to the weigh in, and even better when I saw the others," he says. "That's when I thought I could win and I based that on the shocked reaction I got from the other competitors. Plus, I had guys from the other weight classes coming up and telling me how great I looked, an that they'd never seen a lightweight look as good as I did. And that made my confidence grow even more."

Turner's only real competition that weekend would be the scale on Thursday night, and early on it looked like the scale might win. "Then I stepped on the scale and I was overweight. I weighed 155 and you should have seen all the happy faces. Everybody in my class was walking around with big smiles. So I had to lose almost a pound by ten o'clock that night. "For the next two hours I was doing all the things you have to do to try and lose a pound of weight. I went back at nine o'clock and hit 154 ¼ right on the nose."

Of course, by the time he weighed in again, the other lightweights were gone, back to their hotel rooms with those visions of winning still alive. They would be allowed one more night of dreaming before reality would tap them on the shoulder and relegate them to no better than second.

"When I showed up the next day, the other lightweights saw me, their jaws dropped and the smiles once again turned to frowns. You can't understand how good those reactions made me feel. I couldn't help but gain more and more confidence. This is the contest where I would go from being a brave to a chief. I would earn my feathers at the nationals."

With all this talk of braves and chiefs and feathers, you'd think Ivory Turner III has some kind of interest in Indians, and you'd be right on the mark. Turner is also known as Papoose, a nickname, but much more than that. It's actually the name given to him by his paternal grandmother when he was born. You see, Turner is half Cherokee Indian and damn proud of it, even though you'd never be tempted to confuse him with the stereotypical wild west Indian portrayed in the movies.

Born and raised in Washington D.C., Turner admits that he doesn't think he'd fit in real well on an Indian reservation. "I don't know if I'd like the have to deal with the outdoors and nature too much," he admits. "The rest of my family likes to do a lot of things outside, but I'm too domesticated. I need the lights and the city."

That doesn't mean, however, that he's given up his Indian heritage. Far from it. "My Indian roots are very important to me, as is my black background," he says. "I'm very interested in finding out who and what made me how I am today. I think that to be truly successful you must have a complete understanding of who you are."

Turner's success in athletics began in high school, when he was an outstanding football player and track star. Though he was never offered a scholarship, he attended the University of Maryland and walked on both the football and track teams. His collegiate experience lasted just one year, though, when real life came knocking and his oldest son was born. That meant it was time to get a job.

One side job he had during that time was a male dancer, and interestingly enough , he performed along side another IFBB pro, Don Long. It was about that time that he realized if he were going to continue making money at dancing, he would have to get in much better shape.

"I was a powerlifter, but didn't have the great cuts and look," he says. "So I joined the Maryland Athletic Club. The owner saw me and thought I had pretty good symmetry and shape. He told me that if I competed in just one contest, he'd give me a free membership. So I took his offer."

Turner's first contest was the Boling Air Force show at the end of 1991, and he won. From there he captured firsts in the Novice and Open divisions of the D.C. Grand Prix, won the Maryland State, and then the Musclemania in Providence Rhode Island. A phenomenal first year for a guy who'd never prepared for a bodybuilding contest before.

His first loss came at the "92 Junior Nationals when he finished second, but that is actually when he began to see bodybuilding as something more than just a hobby to keep his club membership.

"I guess that's when the pro bug really hit me," he says. " Then I competed at my first Nationals. I realized that I needed to know more about the sport and what needs to be done. Up until that time I was just kind of having fun with it. I guess it was there that it finally hit me that if I somehow won the show, what the heck would I do? I really didn't know. So I sat down with my wife and we put together a career plan."

Of course the culmination of the plan was to win the Nationals title and become a professional, which has been been accomplished. But along the way there was plenty of work to be done, in both his training and nutrition. He teamed up with Kevin Levrone, who finished second in the 2002 Mr. Olympia contest. "There's nothing like working with a pro like Kevin first-hand." Turner says. "As my training partner I constantly learned new things from him about how to train and how the body will react to training.

"I was very fortunate that around the time I started getting really serious about bodybuilding, I met him and was able to find out what being a bodybuilder was all about. I always thought the pros were doing things way out there, but I found out from Kevin that I could build a pro physique as long as I stayed motivated and really worked hard. One of the first things that he had me do was start doing aerobics, which I had never done in the off-season before. Almost immediately I saw my body begin to change."

Turner's posing routines have always been his greatest strength and he has been an major influence on many other bodybuilders. He is the only competitor ever two win the Best Poser title twice at the Nationals. "You know, I pick out a song about a week or two before the show, then just put the routine together during the last week," he says. "It comes very natural to me. I listen to the song and can immediately see that moves that relate to that part of the music. "I've heard people talk about my posing, and NPC President Jim Manion has said that I'm the best poser in the world, and I take that as quite a compliment and quite an accomplishment, considering how many bodybuilders he must see each year."

"I've been entertaining ever since I was in Elementary school, in gymnastics meets and talent shows." But Papoose's talent extends beyond the posing platform. He starred in an independent film, Black & White, which was regional hit in the D.C. area. Next year you can catch him as a Tyson-like boxer in "the Contender", an HBO movie. An experience model, you can also see him in the Ebony Soul Calendar for 2003 -2004.

"I've wanted to be a pro (athlete) ever since I can remember. Some guys get their pro card and then they stop. They just wanted to get their card so they can open a gym. I want to do more than that. I want to compete." But Papoose recognizes the challenge in today's climate. "The judges won't look at you unless you're over 200 lbs. That's why a lot of the smaller guys have given up. That's why I admire guys like Lee Priest, Shawn Ray, and Lee Labrada."