antiunilateral43, African-American genealogy (tangent from Santee of So. Carolina?)

[Smart Mule]

Lol. So a group of Germans do it and they're cool"
But if I do it I'm a wannabe ..? Just did some more reading here ...so pls pardon my line of questioning here..
A man travels to Germany and sees the age resurrected in Europe and the natives are a "study" and what this man Sees provokes thought .....but my mind and heart are moved by what I've learned and I'm condemned by the same people that I'm learning from.

I actually find the german obsession with indians to be extremely disturbing.  What they are doing isn't remotely respectful.  It's objectification and that is harmful and hurtful. 

Yes I'm a mixture of european. African and quite possibly native (still a mystery) and I'm still getting that same "vibe" that nobody really wants anything to do with African Americans period ...but a full blooded Masai warrior from Kenya can Sundance in south Dakota  but an African american will catch hell for trying..pay me no mind here. But I'm not afraid to talk about what may be the underlying issue here ....anybody coming out of the southeast gets blasted for loving native culture and spirituality by people way on the other side of the country ..who don't really know how the other half is living ..my sons mother left flathead to visit my grandparents in new York one time and never went back

You're making generalizations and assumptions.  I have a very dear friend who is Pequot and he's black.  I love him.  I've been invited to ceremony with him.  One of his friends was very protective of me when I went to confront newagers who conduct 'lakota' sweats on their land.  The difference here is that he doesn't try to be anything he's not.  He's just a guy with Pequot and black ancestry and who knows what else.

Rites of passage will save the young is all I have to say..
In africa they scratch and initiate ...they are made to feel Luke young men and women ..and given a sense of self ..u can sit and waste time talking about whatever   but if there's someone really sincere that comes along with love for what's been learned ? Why not let me learn em. ? What are u so afraid of ??  What do u have to lose ? A lot of its dying and there are real people.  True people. Like me who would live fight and die to preserve and protect it. Don't believe me??
Let's take the test and try me if you think I'm lying
  Its really all I gotta say right now

That Pequot guy?  His son was a gang banger and was killed in a drive-by in CT.  In front of his girlfriend and kid.  Violence and crime is found in traditional families and traditional communities.  It's horrible ugly part of society.  Rites of passage are important but they won't save you from bad people with bad intentions.  If that were the case I wouldn't have had to sit next to my friend, holding his hand while he cried for his kid.

earthw7 said

As far as your journey you called Pine Ridge Right! and they told you about their lives right,  When life is hard
one must look inside themselves not to another culture, All our ceremonies do is help a person find that center,
but finding oneselves is about facing that inner pain and dealing with it.
I will tell what i tell everyone, its about you and you dont need anyone or anything to find that

She's right. 

[Diana]

I do remember you now. About 5-6 years ago... You were the only black guy at the Arlee Powwow. You seemed odd and out of place, like you didn't belong there. And your dancing was atrocious. You had on some strange regalia made of turkey feathers, I asked a couple of people who you were and nobody seemed to know you, you just popped in. It was painfully obvious you were a pretendian and kind of pitiful. I also remember you were there by yourself...sad. Powwows are for friends and families.


Diana

Lim limtsch  my family migrated from the south to NYC in the mid to late forties.
And that's where I came along ..again I am the result of an interracial coupling ...and not once upon entering this forum did I ever once claim to be an Indian...or said that I even wanted to be (responding to another post here) I've only ever expressed a desire to learn traditions and ways ..  You said thank you in a language I'm familiar with.  I used to live out at flathead in arlee.  I was actually there on and off for a year
It was a good life when I lived out near polson and flathead lake.   Loved it there. Stars so clear at night you could almost touch them. There was so many

[earthw7]

As a Native person i would say i object to German who want to learn my culture
and take it to Germany and teach other Germans because you can not teach a lifestyle
by witnesses it a couple time a year,  you must be born into it. My culture is something that is living and it
is not property that can be sold its a way of life. That way of life is about healing
one self, By steal another's culture is not healing if you want to be come something that you are not
they will be people who dont accept you because it is not your culture. So you will be an outsider because it is not truth,
Being Native is about family and relationships and if you dont know your family your not Native.
If you really want to heal look into oneself face those inner hurts and pains.