Odds and Ends > Etcetera
A step beyond the board
Unegv Waya:
Sunbear's Medicine Wheel - oh yes, I've come across that all over the place. I've tried to explain to many about the conference of over 40 nations that occurred at the university at Lethbridge (sp?) back in the early 80s and how the results were twisted into what most call a medicine wheel. Some just don't get it while others do. Those who do are usually thankful for the information while those who don't will go to great lengths to try and prove it is a valid NDN teaching.
What is perhaps the worst, in my eyes anyway, is that the medicine wheel idea does contain some true information. As NDN Outlaw points out, however, it is a mix of several traditions and that mix is being presented as a pan-american NDN teaching that just does not exist.
It is a real shame as I understand that the purpose of that initial conference was to gather together some common values that could be compiled for the purpose of assisting in the rebuilding of native communities both on and off the rez. Then the organizer, one Phil Lane (International Coordinator, Four Worlds International Institute for Human and Community Development) compiled and copyrighted the results for sale. So much for any real interest or supposed respect he had for those who attended.
nemesis:
What an interesting thread!
I hope this is not too much of a tangent but I was wondering about what we could to to address the issue of academics who promote frauds and supports sects and cults?
Academics have a very privileged place in society as they influence national, and sometimes international, policies and legislation. They serve as expert witnesses in courts of law and therefore when academics are corrupt, stupid or perhaps just naive, the consequences can be very serious.
I have a few academics in mind, but one that recently came to my attention is Professor Peter Reason (ironic name or what?) of the University of Bath, UK.
Link to a paper written by Prof. Reason, Reflections on Sacred Experience and Sacred Science: Reason, P. (1993). Reflections on Sacred Experience and Sacred Science. Journal of Management Inquiry, 2(3), 273-283
http://people.bath.ac.uk/mnspwr/Papers/SACRED.htm
from the paper....
--- Quote ---Personal experiences
My growing concern for the quality of sacredness has developed as I have explored shamanic paths and learned particularly from the Medicine Wheel teachings (Storm 1972; see also Note 1).
--- End quote ---
..........
--- Quote ---Note 1. By Medicine Wheel teachings I mean that version of the sacred teachings of Native Americans that has become available to white people through books such as Seven Arrows (Storm, 1972) and the workshops and ceremonies conducted by those native, metis, and white teachers with whom I have had contact. I am sensitive to the need when speaking of the teachings of an indigenous people like the Native Americans to acknowledge both that the teachings are wide and diverse between different tribes; that I am not a Native American and cannot claim their experience; and that some Native American groups and organizations object strongly to white people using (they would say abusing) their traditional teachings. Nevertheless I wish to give thanks for the beauty that these teachings have brought to my life, and acknowledge with gratitude and respect the sources; in particular I wish to thank Arwyn Dreamwalker and members of the Dreamweavers Morningstar Lodge.
--- End quote ---
The really scary thing is that this man is a professor in a repeatable university who is referencing frauds and predators in his academic papers! His references list reputable sources such as Mazlow and R.D Laing alongside people like H. Storm (according to a thread here a serial rapist and sexual abuser of children) and Carlos Castaneda. He makes a special point of thanking Arwyn Dreamwalker, another fraud who is a member of the notorious "deer tribe" of Harley Reagan's, who as we all know promote the sexual abuse of minors as part of their depraved initiation rites for adolescents.
In the paper, EDUCATION FOR ECOLOGY: Science, aesthetics, spirit and ceremony
link http://people.bath.ac.uk/mnspwr/Thoughtpieces/EducationForEcology.htm
Reason's references include credible heavyweights like Mary Midgley and Merleau-Ponty but also, tucked away amongst the other reference is this:
Storm, H. (1972). Seven Arrows. New York: Harper & Row.
Just for the record, H Storm is the predator named in this thread
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=899.0
and also here
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?action=printpage;topic=227.0
Here is Prof. reason's page at Bath University
http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/faculty/peter_reason.html#book_chapters
He seems to be an academic of some repute and yet his papers, well this one at least, are referenced with notorious frauds.
Even more ironic than his name is the fact that his special interest is in the field of "co-operative inquiry", described in a paper he co-authored here
http://people.bath.ac.uk/mnspwr/Papers/Heron&Reason%20.htm
in the following way.....
--- Quote ---Co-operative inquiry is a way of working with other people who have similar concerns and interests to yourself, in order to:
· Understand your world, make sense of your life and develop new and creative ways of looking at things.
· Learn how to act to change things you may want to change and find out how to do things better
--- End quote ---
So his specialty is in consulting with others in order to understand how to do things better.
I have no problem with this at all except that one would hope that Reason would demonstrate an element of discernment in relation to the people he consults with.
Also interesting is this
--- Quote ---Professors Peter Reason and Judi Marshall, and Dr Gill Coleman are the founding energies behind the pioneering MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice at Bath University Management School. Peter’s inaugural lecture Justice, Sustainability & Participation makes the bold case for radical shifts in academia’s orientation towards teaching both business and sustainability subjects.
--- End quote ---
(emphasis mine)
from here
http://www.oikos-uk.com/influencesnetwork.html
Surely the best way to promote responsible business practice is to take great care to reference only credible papers / sources in one's academic work and not the literary turds deposited by frauds and predators?
I would very much like to do something to draw Prof. Reason's attention to the error of his ways. Would anyone mind if I invited him to check out the forums here in general and this thread in particular? In the spirit of "co-operative inquiry" of course.
Juliet:
Academic credentials are no protection against falling for frauds. This is the best case for many of these people.
We know what the worst case is. And a scholar who doesn't care should be stripped of his credentials.
Hair lady:
well I don´t know many real medicine people who have written books about thier experiences...So I guess I would suggest finding and giving your students a list of books written by real medicine peoples. As a teacher it is your responsability to teach the truth. People need guidance in these types of things. I am sure that it would take you time to find good books since Native tradtion is mostly oral..But it is possiable.
Camilla:
--- Quote from: Hair lady on March 10, 2011, 11:26:35 am ---a list of books written by real medicine peoples.
--- End quote ---
books written by real medicine people??? hhmmm... :-\ doesn't sound good
books are usually written to be sold......and in my opinion this idea of "business" doesn't go along well with "real medicine people"
Anyway, in my opinion there are dozens of topics which can help acquire true, realistic information about Native People cultures, beyond stereotypes and lies, WITHOUT mentioning Those Things which must be kept private.
You can talk and read about geography, history, sociology, social science, politics, pedagogy, arts, technology etc. etc. etc. without intruding in Those topics.
Nice day to everybody
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