i do not know anything about the man other than what i have found through research .. .. in my research i did come up with the following though .. it is a review of his book "learning journey on the red road" .. and i thought it expressed quite articulately an opinion of the man and his (possible) motives .. i also thought that this review could very well be applied to many, many others ..
source:
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Journey-Road-Looks-Buffalo/dp/0966395700"Don't waste your money, August 13, 2008
By Tasunke Hakte "rezboy57770" (Pine Ridge, SD United States)
Hand's book, "Learning Journey on the Red Road", is a jumbled assortment of Native American cliches, aphorisms, and platitudes, mixed in with autobiographical emptiness that serves as filler. Beyond that, it is nearly devoid of content. The book purports to be about the "circle of life", the "brotherhood that we all share" etc etc, but its utter lack of depth precludes the reader taking any learning from it. I would feel bad giving a book with such an optimistic premise such a negative review, except that the work to me seems utterly insincere. I find that I never really believe Hand or what he is talking about. Instead, the book seems to extremely cynical; cobbling together an odd mishmash of Native spirituality, the Kabbala, Eastern mysticism and the like in order to get people to buy the book. Hand may be disingenuous, but he is clearly no dummy. He knows that there is a market for his message. The recipe is simple: take a Native American, preferably from a "popular" tribe such as the Lakota, preferably full-blood (or claiming to be), preferably claiming the title of chief, usually through lineal descendancy from an actual chief (a European notion, but no matter) and have him pen a tome about growing up "in the traditional way" and being raised by "the old ones". Throw in a heavy dash of syncretic spirituality and a lot of (mostly) white new-agers will open up their wallets faster than you can say "shaman." I must admit, I have never been a fan of the genre of mostly-interchangeable books that try to introduce Native spirituality to a mainstream audience, a genre that struck gold once again in the wake of "Dances with Wolves." But Hand's book is one of the most poorly-written and the most cynical. Worst of all, I can't escape the nagging feeling that he is using Lakota spirituality - a rich and beautiful set of traditions going back millenia - to sell his book. And his treatment of other religious traditions shows a disappointingly shallow understanding of nearly any that he talks about. A professor of comparative religion he is not. Hand is glad to mix and match world religious traditions, shoving square pegs into round holes if it will help him further his key premises. He talks about a great deal of world religions, yet it is not clear that he has a good grasp of any of them. Perhaps he did not care to take the time to. With that said, I believe that the book's greatest failing - really its greatest deception - is that it is fluffy and lightweight, and yet purports to deal with some of the deepest and most fundamental of humanity. That is where Hand's disingenuousness is really laid bare. If one were to go through the book and take out all of the empty platitudes, meaningless aphorisms, and boy-scout-handbook Indian cliches, there would be barely enough for a pamphlet. I am surprised that there is always such an outcry when non-Indian authors write books stereotyping Native American culture, spirituality, etc, but when one of their own does it, most of those voices are silent. And yet that is what Hand has done - reduced his culture and packaged it for a broader paying audience. To those who are considering buying this book: I would say look elsewhere. There are far better books on the subject, most by Native American authors, with more intricacy, depth, and sincerity, as befits the subject matter. You are better off avoiding this one."
ann .. how do you know this man? .. i would guess that if you know him you might be able to shed a bit more light than those of us who do not? .. firsthand information about someone is usually helpful .. there is an awful lot on the internet about him and i admit that i have not thoroughly researched him myself .. i have researched enough to have my own personal opinion yet not near enough to state anything as fact .. my opinion is based solely on what i have found online, so input from someone who knows him would be helpful ..
i have to say though, that there are stories in our oral traditions that speak of whites being "created" by witches etc .. one in particular that i grew up hearing is pueblo in origin .. Leslie Marmon Silko published this story in her book "Ceremony" .. that was the first that i ever saw in it print, and Silko puts a twist into her story, prefacing the telling of
the story, that actually makes a lot of sense ..
indeed many people that i have re-told this story in front of have said it was racist .. personally, i do not see it that way and i do think that word racism is tossed about far too frequently .. people, especially ndn's, are often viewed as racist for some if not all of their beliefs .. .. i have been called racist far more times than i can count, simply because of my beliefs .. beliefs that were passed down to me, taught to me, and are deeply ingrained in me .. does that make me a racist? .. idk, perhaps it does in the minds of some .. i dislike a lot of things but i do not dislike any race, including whites, i think there are bad people in every race .. i dislike bad people, no matter what race they are .. i do not hate .. hate is self defeating .. ..
i do not know enough about this man and the context of what he said to you, to know whether his intent was racist or not .. perhaps it was, perhaps not .. as for the man, i do think he should probably be researched .. thanks for bringing him to the attention of the forum .. ..
