General > Frauds
Film on Leonard Crow Dog
nahualqo:
I attended the Native American funeral cerimony for Jay Silverheels in Los Angeles in the 70's and there were some non-Natives invited there too. I have participated in Sweats by Ernie Peters or Ernie Longwalker after having walked across the US in protest to proposed anti-Reservation legislation. Enie includes non-Native participants. Archie Fire Lame Deer and Leonard Crow Dog include non-Natives in their cerimonies. There have been many that have opened up to those non-Natives that show an interest in our ways especially ecologically and spiritually.
Since I have experienced this first hand I will make some comments. Non-Natives long ago were forced from earth magic, the magic of the universe, the magic of the sun, woods, water. Their religions forced all people to obey a worship not because it was pleasing to God but because it was pleasing politically to their leaders. Their leaders controlled the access to earth magic and subsequently forgot how to get in touch with it.
Many Native Americans never left the Earth Magic, we never abandoned our true selves and many that did abandon their true selves have since returned to themselves. It is that connection to which makes the grass grow and the winds blow that makes our ways powerful and real.
Yes, there are some powerful world religions that harken the faithful and provide sacred reality. How many priests can actually believe in God and connect to the magic when they are buggering little choir boys behind the pew?
It has been coming for a long time, non-Natives becoming interested in our Earth Magic beliefs. They forced religion upon us, forced missionary boarding schools, forced sterilization on some tribes, abused the Earth People still living free within the Earth Magic as a right proper way. Denied us the ability to keep alive our own beliefs.
My grandmother used to infer that we need to watch out what we feed our neighbor in need because one day we may need them. What she meant to say is that we need to be upright to our neighbor because we choose to be, not because we have to be. If you can give to others when you least can afford it makes you the richest person on earth. These sentiments lost us a continent I would tell my grandma. but she would reply, "the Earth does not care what the other person does, the Earth only cares what you do, what is in your heart, the Earth can and will take away the bounty that America feasts upon but only when America has fulfilled the needs for which it was allowed to exist. So don't ask for anything that is theirs because we are unknowing of the price they will have to pay for what they have done! Find your own way!"
We all knew this lesson once. My father lived it. All his life he looked at money like buffalo. When the spirit wanted, it would bring the opportunity for money, all he had to do was work hard and prepare himself and the buffalo or the dollars would come.
I think we should be loath to criticisize another Native American for sharing with non-Natives even when we have so little of what is ours left. It will make us rich again in the things that have always been ours. Non-Natives have usurped our blessings, our lives, our land but it will not stand forever. We must be prepared, we must prepare ourselves by returning to our real selves without seeking advantages against the Earth but seek to return to our Earth Magic Cultures where we can find the secrets even if only our ancestors now know them.
Moma_porcupine:
nahualqo
--- Quote ---I think we should be loath to criticisize another Native American for sharing with non-Natives even when we have so little of what is ours left.
--- End quote ---
http://newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1083.0
nahualqo
--- Quote ---I have witnessed on this board the calumny of shame directed towards several Lakota medicine people because they have opened their practices to non-Natives.
--- End quote ---
What I mostly hear people objecting to ,is when non Lakota people are taught Lakota ceremonies to "share" outside of the Lakota community . I don't think these objections are really based on race , though maybe , that is sometimes the easiest way , to define where the line is , and at what point this "sharing" tends to create more harm than good .
In real life ~ not cyber space ~ I have seen and heard just as many objections from non Lakota Indians , when people in their tribe , who are Indian but not Lakota , are taught Lakota ceremonies and endorsed as Spiritual leaders by some of these Lakota Elders who are so enthusiastic to "share" their Lakota traditions outside their tribe . I have heard Leonard Crow Dog's name has come up as having been a "teacher" in a few of these situations .
There is many problems when people are empowered as Spiritual leaders outside of the balance provided by a tribe that knows it's own traditions , whether the people are Native or non native . More than a couple of the non Lakota Native people I know , who were taught Lakota ceremonies to " share " outside the Lakota community , are well known in their own communites to be violent or abusive or just self serving and exploitive . Their own communities aren't at all happy about them being made into Lakota style Spiritual leaders. The recognized Elders in their own communities would never have passed the responsibilites of traditional ceremonies on to them . Usually these people end up doing ceremonies for non natives , because their own communities know they are not trustworthy . Some manage to get a following in their own communities and this leads to more problems because many Elders see this as interfering with passing on intact tribal traditions .
Here is a link to good article on this problem .
http://www.ammsa.com/buffalospirit/June-2000/longarms.html
I don't think " not wanting to share with non natives" is really the problem , though many people try to make it sound like it is . I guess it's easier to argue against protecting ceremonies , if it is claimed it is all about racism , than if it is all about perserving context . And there are many people who want to use traditions for personal gain , be it ego or money , who are threatened by the idea these ceremonies need to be kept in context .
educatedindian:
Some ceremonies I have no problem with outsiders who are family or trusted friends taking part, such as when I see Native vets inviting fellow vets with PTSD to be healed. Even inviting new family has its risks. Over in Austin we have Ike West, who married a Lakota, divorced him, and now sells ceremonies in Texas and Europe.
But Crow Dog is a pretty good example of the dangers. In some cases he invites anyone, the curious, the thrill seekers, and the deluded and the dangerous. Some people who've gone to just a few ceremonies then turn around and set up Ceremonies R Us on their own.
You don't need for whites to take part in a sweat to get whites to become eco friendly. All that will do is attract the worst kinds, people who think a sweat is a cheap fix or worse, a substitute for living a life that treats the earth right.
nahualqo:
I see your point. That is the responsibility of a sweat leader. He is witness and participant with everything that comes out in a sweat. I agree with you on clear cut violations but isn't it the purview of the leader to make those choices? It seems that selling sweats has become a cottage industry. Not a good sign.
--- Quote from: educatedindian on March 20, 2007, 12:27:49 am ---Some ceremonies I have no problem with outsiders who are family or trusted friends taking part, such as when I see Native vets inviting fellow vets with PTSD to be healed. Even inviting new family has its risks. Over in Austin we have Ike West, who married a Lakota, divorced him, and now sells ceremonies in Texas and Europe.
But Crow Dog is a pretty good example of the dangers. In some cases he invites anyone, the curious, the thrill seekers, and the deluded and the dangerous. Some people who've gone to just a few ceremonies then turn around and set up Ceremonies R Us on their own.
You don't need for whites to take part in a sweat to get whites to become eco friendly. All that will do is attract the worst kinds, people who think a sweat is a cheap fix or worse, a substitute for living a life that treats the earth right.
--- End quote ---
cleardreamer:
> But Crow Dog is a pretty good example of the dangers. In some cases he invites anyone, the curious, the thrill seekers, and the deluded and the dangerous.
It's interesting to hear this here. In the summer of 2000 I traveled briefly with a man from Austria who I met on the Dineh reservation. He claimed he had come to the States because of a vision he had to become a Sun Dancer (I know, I know...). Evidently, he was permitted to dance somewhere, though the Sun Dance at Camp Anna Mae we attended together upon invite from a mutual acquaintence (who, in retrospect probably had no right to invite us whities since he wasn't NDN himself) wasn't it. I never saw him dance, but he had the scars (which, I realize, could have been self-inflicted) on his chest. He wasn't selling anything (don't know what he's up to these days), didn't strike me as being a nuage fruit, but I was, admittedly, far more naive at the time. I honestly hope he isn't out there selling ceremonies back in Europe, but my sense is that he had a stronger sense of right and wrong in these matters and was quite serious about the path he was on.
At any rate, he wanted to go to Crow Dog's Paradise for a dance that was being held there (the people we were staying with had small posters from CDP about the upcoming event) and also to Wounded Knee, but didn't have a mode of transport. This is where I came in. My companion told me had smoked his sacred pipe and prayed for help, and then I showed up. I had a funky, old Mercury Lynx that was held together with spit and bailing wire (so to speak) and was up for an adventure and for helping someone out on their spiritual path, even if I didn't entirely understand it. I figured I might learn something in the process in addition to seeing some new sights.
Something was amiss when we arrived at Crow Dog's Paradise. When we stopped by the kitchen area to let the hosts know we were there, we were greeted by Leonard and a few members of his family. We offered our help with the preparation, but were graciously declined and invited to make camp. There were some other people we didn't see immediately who were inside one of the tipis, but it was an unmistakable argument, and a heated one. I think there may have been alcohol involved (one of them sounded drunk, and we both got, for lack of a better expression, an alcohol vibe from the exchange), and my travel partner and I were left feeling rather uneasy about staying. We decided to hang around for a little while longer to see how things felt in other parts of the camp, but we eventually decided to travel on because things just didn't feel right.
So, it's interesting to hear that events at CDP are sometimes opened up to anyone and everyone, and, as my experience seems to indicate, not always with the best results.
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