I am really glad to hear the information that was on the Gohiyuhi site will be coming over here !
I have missed being able to use that as a point of reference !
Lindaa , I think your idea of listing contact people and official tribal statements about frauds and how to
recognize exploiters , is really excellent . Would it be possible to even approach tribes and Elders and ask for something like this ? It would really help to have a truely authoritive point of referenece for people , and unfortunantly the exploiters tend to be a lot more pushy and loud mouthed than the true traditional leaders .
(Like the idea of a NAFPS " Don't pay to Pray" , bumper sticker idea , mentioned in another thread ,
too ! )
Quoting part of Al's first post
Imposters: Those who pass themselves off as American Indian medicine people or elders when they are not.
Frauds: Those who make false claims about Native beliefs or practices for money or power.
It would make sense to have a separate catagory for fake tribes , but if it is not a fake tribe , I am wondering if it might work better to have just one catagory for both imposters and frauds , as it seems like often the imposters are also presenting fraudulent teachings and ceremonies , and would need to be listed as both a fraud and an imposter .
Quoting a bit more from Al's first post
Exploiters: Those who may actually be Native or even have some knowledge of ceremonies, but choose to exploit ceremonies for profit or power. In few cases, they may even have once been considered elders within their communities until selling
out.
Questionable Ethics: These persons or groups may not be entirely bad. In some cases they actually do some good work, and may have some residue of respect within Native communities for past good work. This does not change the fact that their selling of ceremonies is unethical and objected to by the very same communities.
Also I am wondering if it might work better to just have one catagory for people who are who they say they are, and who have some real teachings , and may have done some good , but are also doing some things that creates problems . This could be the outright exploitation of selling ceremonies or maybe in some cases could just be a vivid description of some of the problems caused by some of these people , authorizing people outside of a Native community to lead ceremonies. This one catagory could maybe include both "Exploiters" and "Questionable Ethics".
I don't know if this would work or not , and maybe it would be better to keep those catagories as already stated , but it is some thoughts .
Congratulations on your book ! Must feel good !
