This was my reply to the last letter:
Hello,
I published the letter. It has long been the belief of us at NAFPS that more discussion is better, not less, and certainly not hiding these matters or absolutely refusing to answer them as the Ybarras are now doing.
First, I will ignore the long series of personal attacks, false insinuations, and character assassinations in your letter. We have seen them many times before as defenses when someone has been caught doing wrong, and know enough to not pay them any attention. We know that such tactics are also often then taught to their followers.
I can also ignore them because I truly feel for your group. Your group and yourself in particular have been lied to or taken advantage of in numerous ways.
In some ways you bear some of the responsiblity yourselves. Some of the ideas you believe are so bizarre and ludicrous I wonder how it is possible for anyone to take them seriously.
Do you seriously claim there was a "pre pagan" belief system or tradition that is somehow similar to the Native American Church?
That is simply not true. The NAC is a *Christian* church, first and foremost.
Ybarra's ancestry may be Apache and Yaqui, but what the NAC teaches is not, though it does mix in some older beliefs.
His teacher was not of his people anyway, but was Navajo. While Apache and Navajo beliefs have some things in common, Yaqui belief is entirely different. And as I said before, the NAC is even more different.
To imagine they have anything in common with any tradition in Europe, except Christianity, is false and without any proof. If someone has taught you differently, they are saying so contrary to all evidence and every one of these Native traditions.
Another way you have been taken advantage of is by these so called Peruvian shamans. Natives generally don't use the term shaman, and no true Native tradition either seeks nor wants "converts". Only New Age imposters seek out outsiders.
As a general rule of thumb, those who take advantage of European "spiritual tourists" such as yourself are generally mestizos, not Indians, or are curanderos (commercial healers for money, who also mix in Christian beliefs as well) rather than the traditional healers. Some are outright con artists, though given the poverty of the region, it is harder to blame them.
The simple fact that they call themselves "Incan" should have been your first clue they were not what they claim to be, since the Incans have been gone since the Spaniards broke up their empire. Instead, local Indians call themselves Aymara, Quechua, etc, or by their village.
The so called Inca prophecy you were taught is entirely false and incredibly confused.
First of all, it is the MAYANS, not the Incas, who supposedly had a prophecy about 2012. And even that supposed prophecy is not true, as Mayan leaders have been repeatedly saying.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6519923/Ignore-the-movie-2012-will-not-be-the-end-of-world-say-Mayans.html And again, there are no "Incas" anymore, just con artists claiming to be them who make up a phony prophecy to have an excuse to take money from naive Europeans and white Americans who don't know any better.
For all of this, you have my sympathy. I don't doubt your search for spiritual meaning is genuine. I just hope you learn to tell true from false better.
The Ybarras may have valuable things for you to learn...if you want to learn Christian values that is. Again, that is what the NAC is, a Christian church. No doubt they can also teach about American Indian values. Nothing wrong with learning either of them.
But if you imagine their ceremonies will somehow connect you to a mythical "pre pagan" tradition of Europe, there's just no chance of that. Look within your own pagan traditions. (The real ones, that is. Sadly, there are many false versions of European pagan traditions out there.)
Outside of basic ethics and a tribal worldview, Native traditions can't help you in the manner you hope.
All of this is still basically a side issue to what began this topic though. And that is simple enough:
Native people believe it is wrong to practice Native traditions outside of their traditional context. What the Ybarras do in Denmark is considered wrong by nearly all Native people. If you choose to invite him and pay for him to come (even if he is not making a profit) you would be going against the values of nearly all Natives.
I pray you think on these matters and search your heart.
I also pray you now know better than to throw away your money and time on "Peruvian shamans" as a spiritual tourist.
Al Carroll