First off, let me thank the moderator for approving my request to join. I've used this forum incessantly since 2005 both to research and combat the misappropriation of the culture and sacred ceremonies of the NDNs. It has been a tremendous asset in that.
I was moved to join by a post I read by the global moderator Yells At Pretendians. I am not NDN. I am Scottish on my mother's side and raised in the belief structure of her family. The practices of which I would go so far as to call sacred in their own right and echo traditions of times past. These practices I have verified through books on folklore and through authors such as Miranda Green and Nora Chadwick among others.
Being so disposed, I am keenly aware of the dismay caused when the cultural heritage, prayers and ceremonies are misappropriated, misused and used without either training or permission. I had a "run in" with one of Phillip "Cloudpilers" Landis' groups on this very issue a few years back in Columbus Ohio. This forum proved essential in doing research to "debunk" certain claims.
Hopefully, I will learn more. More importantly, do more, to expose such frauds.
