Hi, my name is Jim and I live in Dallas Texas. A few years ago I visited my fathers home in northeast Oklahoma. I hadn't been there in years but drove around and finally found the Stomp ground he took me to when I was little. There happened to be a dance that night and my family and I were invited to stay. It was quite moving and it was then that I decided to further explore my Cherokee heritage. I have located my grandfather and great grandfather on the Dawes roll and have applied for citizenship and begun learning the language. I'm writing because I would like to learn more about the spiritual beliefs of the Cherokee as existed before the Europeans "discovered" them. There are many people in Dallas / Ft. Worth area offering to teach Shamanism and Native American spirituality; but, none appear to be genuine and most are laughable in their desire to be Indian. I tried a seminar put on by the Harner people and you should have seen the "fish belly white" guy that showed up to teach the class - called himself wild horse or something like that.
There is a section in the forum for non-frauds and I've looked through it. - Do people really dye their hair before going to pow wows? - There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on non- frauds in this section, only more frauds. Can someone steer me toward true sources of knowledge in the DFW area?
I have a few more questions but I'll post them under the appropriate sections.
Thanks
Jim
