Path: Supernews70!Supernews73!Supernews60!supernews.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!leto.ou.edu!news.ou.edu!not-for-mail From: AKICITA Newsgroups: alt.native Subject: Re: Non Native paticipation in Native Religions / Cultures Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 11:16:12 -0600 Organization: Rebel Without a Pause Lines: 49 Message-ID: <34F6F4DC.5E09@ou.edu> References: <34fa61df.18281777@news.en.com> <19980227140801.JAA11027@ladder03.news.aol.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ouppp238.modems.ou.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (Win95; I) Xref: Supernews70 alt.native:46747 Aimfl wrote: > > >(Doktor DynaSoar wrote: > > >And I'll bet dollars to donuts that everyone that's spoken >against it has > done so far more often that they've seen it happen. > > Actually we in FL have seen "it" happen far too often we have over 360 plastic > medicine people in this state alone documented from folks who have "sweats" > and charge nominal amounts to the "guru's" who sell books, tapes and > sweats-such as Barrett Quinley aka "Eagle Bear" who sold sweats in Miami for > $500 for a 45 minute ":session". Fine, except that's a different topic than this one. The original post was talking about non-Indian participation in Indian religions/cultures, not necessarily the problem of charlatans, as you've mentioned. Maybe one reason non-Indian participation has been a promlem that shouldn't have been a problem, is because all too often the assumption is that they have gained entry through fake medicine people, new agers, etc. It never occurred to you, for example, that some non-Indians are participants in genuine, sincere, and authentic ways; the immediate conclusion was that there was some fraud going on. I find it intereating that we deny non-Indians the right to learn from us through participation (which is, after all, our traditional teaching style), then we sit around and complain that they don't understand what we understand! I think if we're going to complain that non-Indians don't respect, understand, or live by our ethics then we have a responsibility to give them a chance to make this adjustemnt in their lives. We can't bitch on and on that they exploit the earth, that they crave wealth, that their churches are unspiritual, etc. if we also withhold what we believe to be the correct remedies, at the same time. "Our" ways are not ours, they are God's, and great teachers throughout our history have promised us that the time would come when we would need to share what we know with the non-Indians--precisely BECAUSE they don't know and get it wrong. It's not our job to sit around waiting for the White man to "get it right" before they are welcomed into worship with us; it is our job to find the ones who are wrong to begin with, and offer correction and improvement through religion. It's like blaming a guy for having the flu, when in fact you're the one holding the antidote but refusing to provide it because the guy is sick and shouldn't be using "our" medicine! > One can not, in my opinion, create hate where none exists. Sounds like a good wise saying, but actually you can.