I have a question. This has come up a few times and my question is about teaching using books, and at what point that crosses a line from being educational into being exploitive and distorting the culture.
I see one of the newer members of NAFPS, who I believe is Lakota, is selling a book in which he shares his life story - which seems it would be anyones right to do - but for Native people this gets a bit more complicated when someones life story is interwoven with culture and Spirituality and traditional teachings and Elders who taught this are named ...
http://visionoftheworld.com/_wsn/page6.htmlWhen he was but a child, Chaska's grandfather realized that he was gifted by the Great Spirit. Chaska was raised by his maternal grandparents of the Ho-Chunk Winnebago Tribe. He was mentored by traditional elders of his father, Calvin J. Denny's Dakota / Lakota Nation including Grandpa Frank Fools Crow, Traditional Chief and Holy man.
In WAMINEGA, Chaska's Winnebago name meaning "Grizzly Bear Walks on the Snow," you will be drawn into Chaska's amazing spiritual and earthly experiences. In his first fifty years, Chaska has seen, felt and known ALL of the Agony and Ecstasy which the American Indian has tasted since 1492. Chaska's first book is an overview of his personal life as he seeks to walk in The Spiritual Path of the Sacred Red Power of the Dakota / Lakota Nation and his 40-year-search for The One of his VISION, seen in his first Vision Quest at age 13.
(con...)
WAMINEGA is a spiral-bound, 240-page, in-depth, fully-detailed book of the Sacred Red Power with seven full-color photo pages and 57 colored illustrations. Each book is numbered and signed by the author, Calvin Chaska, (con..)
Please, make check or money order for $40 (mailing by bookrate US Postal Service included) to Chaska at
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Chaska is a noted Speaker / Teacher of Traditional Plains Indian Spirituality having been mentored by Seven Strong Medicine Men and having made 13 Vision Quests in his nearly 60 years to find his own Path and Destiny.
http://www.hochunkmall.com/directory/supp/chaska_denny.htm Self-published auto biography of spiritual experiences. Waminega ("Walks on the Snow") is Chaska Denny's remarkable (Ho-Chunk/Dakota) biography that instructs those, who want to experience Red Nation's Sacred Red Power, HOW to Prepare to Begin. Raised by Ho-Chunk grandparents, mentored by their friend, Lakota Chief & Holy Man Frank Fools Crow, and Dawson Has No Horse, Chaska was instructed to write basic spiritual truths.
I guess I am also wondering about when Native people write up their own philosophical ideas, but this is mixed in with an introduction which makes their own ideas sound like traditional teachings when it is really just their own ideas...
It is a bit murky as no one would suggest that Native people shouldn't share their personal thoughts on what things mean , but when Native people do this , in conjunction with introducing themselves as someone with traditional knowledge , it seems there can be a confusing overlap between sharing personal beliefs and the claim of traditional teachings or ceremonies.
Like Chaska sharing his thoughts here;
http://visionoftheworld.com/_wsn/page3.htmlThe Soul began with the first expression which Free Will made of its power, through the force of mind, the first thought which it generated of itself. The first diversion of mind force from its normal path was the beginning of Soul. The nucleus of the Soul was in balance, positive and negative force in equal power producing harmonious activity. The positive (male) irradiating, impregnating; the negative (female), receiving, nourishing.
The steps of this action were the stages of thought: perception, reflection and opinion.
The Soul consisted of two stages of consciousness: that of the Spirit bearing a knowledge of its identity with God, and that of the new Individual bearing knowledge of everything it experienced. The plan for Soul was a cycle of experience unlimited in scope and duration in which the new Individual would come to know creation in all its aspects at the discretion of will. The cycle would be completed when the desire of will was no longer different than the thought of God.
The consciousness of the new Individual would merge with its spiritual consciousness
of Identity with God. And the Soul would return to its Source as the Companion it was intended to be. In this state the Soul would regain its consciousness of a separate individuality and would be aware of its own Free Will.
It now acted as a part of God, not diverting mind force, because it was in agreement with
the action toward which this force was directed. Until this state was reached, the Soul would not be a Companion in the true sense of the word. The idea that a return to God
means a loss of individuality is paradoxical since God is aware of everything that happens
and therefore aware of the consciousness of each Individual.
Thus the return of the Soul is the return of the image to that which imagined it and the consciousness of an Individual. Its record, written in mind, could not be destroyed without destroying a part of God Himself. Thus, when a Soul returns to God, it becomes aware of itself, not only as a part of God, but as a part of every other soul and everything
("Mitakuye Oyasin" - We are all related).
Or here;
http://visionoftheworld.com/_wsn/page4.htmlThe Ancient Mysteries were concerned with man's problem of FREEING the soul-spirit from the world. In the mystery symbologies, the Earth was always represented as the underworld and the soul-spirit was lost in this underworld until freed from it by wisdom, faith and understanding. It was taught that Persephone was abducted by Pluto, Lord of Hades. Persephone is the soul-spirit of man, whose true home is in the heavens.
The mystery religions were then a preparation for the arrival of Jesus. He would be the fruit of their efforts and his message to be a fuller revelation to the people there in that region of these mysteries. The Essenes, the ones who prepared Mary, selected Joseph and taught Jesus, were initiates of the mysteries. Jesus told them he came to fulfill the law and part of that law was the CABALA, the secret doctrine of the Jews, their version of the mysteries.
Those who became converts to Jesus' teachings, such as Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, as well as Paul,were all learned in the Cabala. In the scramble which Christianity made to establish itself as the dominant religion of the decaying Roman Empire, the mysteries were denied their proper place, since to grant that they had truth in them would justify their further existence.
Early Christians used every means possible to conceal the pagan origin of their symbols, doctrines and rituals. They destroyed the sacred texts of others among whom they settled or made sacred texts inaccessible to students of comparitive philosophy, believing that they could stamp out all regard of pre-Christian (pagan) origins of their doctrines.
In the beginning of human time, everyone had the sweatlodge and basic purification ceremonies, which today are only seen in the Norwegians who still use the sauna, but without the spiritual ceremony. The Germans are very fascinated in Native American sweatlodge ceremonies because they know this was once part of their ancient purification ceremonies.
I know some greatly respected Elders have had books written about them , or they have given permission for a book to be written which contains some cultural information. The most recent one that I am aware of is the book written and sold , with the proceeds going to the Wolakota foundation , apparently with Arvol Lookinghorse's permission , titled "White Buffalo Teachings".
I don't know what sort of information is in this book , but I do find it's title a bit confusing as I've always heard traditional teachings need to be passed on by Elders in real life situations, not in books or on line , but I would guess this probably depends on what is being taught....
On the NAFPS introduction page it says ;
http://www.newagefraud.org/Native people DO NOT believe it is ethical to charge money for any ceremony or teaching. Any who charge you even a penny are NOT authentic.
Native traditionalists believe the ONLY acceptable way to transmit traditional teachings is orally and face-to-face. Any allegedly traditional teachings in books or on websites are NOT authentic.
As we are trying to educate people about what sort of behavior crosses the line, I notice sometimes it isn't completely clear where people draw the line. Thinking about this , it occurs to me there is a few things that need to be considered;
Is the information that is offered as traditional teachings or culture really traditional teachings, and is the information that is offered something that can be shared in a book, or on a website , without it loosing some of the most important parts or being distorted ?
Is traditional teachings or culture being offered in a way that undermines the long term health of the culture as a whole, in order to make a profit, either money or an important position ?
Are these considerations an accurate way of defining when an educational book crosses the line into being exploitation ? Do other people have some other ways of defining this ?
