Spirtual exploiters and newage frauds

[Iktomiwicasa]

I thought I would throw this information up so folks can see something that is of major concern to traditional indian people. Here is a link to a list of well known fakes and exploiters who abuse and profane some of our most sacred teachings.

http://users.pandora.be/gohiyuhi/frauds/index.htm

Look the list over well, hopefully it will lead to a good discussion here on this topic.

[Metta]

1. Voices of the ancestors.

Thank you for posting a link to your most informative site. Thankfully, no one I know or have worked with is listed. Someone recommended that I read Black Elk Speaks. I presume you know it. I'd appreciate your thoughts about it.

Go-hi-yu-hi.

[Iktomiwicasa]

2. Black Elk...

...was a genuine Holy Man from the same tribe as myself. The book is a narrative written down by Neihardt, who according to Black Elk's family took liberties with the story for the sake of literary consumability. Black Elk himself NEVER intended it to be a how-to manual on our Lakota ceremonies, in fact certain elements of his ceremonies he presented exactly opposite of what is really done so people would not be able to play around with his medicine.

Frauds abound, and the link to the list I posted isn't comprehensive by any means. You can always tell a fraud by who their followers are.

[Metta]

3. Thanks for the information.

Sorry to hear that Black Elk deliberately kept some of his medicine hidden. I understand not wanting to be responsible in any way for beings of lesser understanding and holding abilities to create damage. My people, the Orthodox Jews, do much the same, covering everything in metaphor and deep symbolism. The downside is that those teachings don't flourish.

I've been practicing Eastern meditation since 1968 having lived in a house on the banks of the Ganges river in Benares, among Tibetans in Darjeeling and as a Buddhist monk in Thailand. I'm curious about how other spiritual traditions illuminate parts of the field that I may not be aware of.

I offer my outstretched hand to you, Iktomiwicasa.

[Iktomiwicasa]

4. Not for everyone.

It is probably a good thing that Black Elk kept information hidden. As a general rule, we traditionalists do not believe that our spiritual ways were given to all people, they were given to us alone. It is impossible to read a book and gain any sort of meaningful knowledge of what our spiritual ways are about, because they are tied to our communities and taken out of the community they lose their context. The only way to truly learn anything is to actually live within a native community.

The dominant culture (western european based) seeks Spirit for personal reasons, growth, enlightenment ect. This is exactly the opposite of the native focus. We do what we do spiritually for the good and well being of our people first and foremost.

Medicine men do not write books, do not conduct workshops for money, generally work within the native community, and do NOT have a host of white groupies. If a so-called spiritual leader has no following amongst his own people, he is not legit. Also, there are no non-natives that have any business conducting native ceremonies.

[chena]

6. heh

-Sorry to hear that Black Elk deliberately kept some of his medicine hidden. I understand not wanting to be responsible in any way for beings of lesser understanding and holding abilities to create damage. My people, the Orthodox Jews, do much the same, covering everything in metaphor and deep symbolism. The downside is that those teachings don't flourish.



define "flourish."


however you do so, will be outside the context of the society you're talking about. perhaps you should consider the wisdom of doing that.........



there's nothing unfortunate about keeping traditions appropriately. look at every other thing that's been spread to the four corners of this world. look at the results.


sure could define "flourish" in that way though.......



but how does this account for the same thing becoming dilluted?



it does not....... not in your view anyhow.




people from proselytizing, instant-gratification (and perhaps some other adjectives) cultures cannot understand this for the life of them

[turtlelowe]

5. Great link

This reminds me of Mike Two Horses' "Wannabe Tribal Homepage." Before he died, Mike posted the names of plastic shamans and self declared holy men. You wouldn't believe some of the hate mail he got for telling the truth.
I particularly found the words in the fraud section and new notices to be hysterical. It's funny how people have this belief that all NDN's are mystical and spiritual and hold the secret to the meaning of life. Many make the assumption that every NDN is a holy man or woman.
When I was going to school at Haskell Indian Nations University, we would often go to sweat there on campus or go to the medicine wheel for ceremonies. We once had invited an elder to pray down at the medicine wheel and forgot to tell everyone, please don't invite any crazies.
Long story short, a new ager by the name of "Rain Dancing on a Desert Plain" showed up and used the "knowledge" she had been given by her "shaman" to question everything the elder said and disrespect him every way she could.
I was so angry with her that one of the instructors had to hold me back from screaming every obscenity I knew at her. When I confronted her about her behavior, she told me that she based her behavior off what she had been told by her "shaman" and if it wasn't right, then I should teach her how to walk the "good red road." First of all, I am Keetoowah and know absolutely noting about the "good red road." Secondly, at the time I was all of 19 year old. What the f@*k do I know about teaching anyone anything? Oh and by the way, I am not a holy woman or medicine woman.
HINU has been involved with the South Lawrence Traffic way for a long time now, and through it's contacts within the community, often participate in events that support what the school is doing. Case in point, we participated in Kaw Valley Earth Week. That is when I first met "Rain Evaporating in the Hot Sun", except then, she was Rastafarian and went by a different name. After the incident at HINU, I did run into her again. But this time, she was pagan and went by yet a different name. When she saw me on the KU campus, she threw down her backpack and took of running and screaming. While I pity these lost souls who jump from one religion to another in the hope of coming to terms with themselves, it doesn't justify their abuse of a culture because they think we too are a religion.