Hello!

[hg11]

Greetings from St. Louis MO! I'm so glad I was accepted, Thank you! I'm Hannah and I like to think of my self as a bright lovely young woman who now has her head screwed on straight. About a year ago I started becoming more aware of the spirt world thanks to my husband who has a basic understanding of how to listen to his intuition and spirit guides. Myself on the other hand have had no experience with this, the only thing I know how to do is try and force the outcome that I want which as caused nothing but pain and heartache in my life. It was so refreshing to finally have someone in my life willing to show me something different. He has found his passion, mechanical engineering and each and every day gets closer to his goal-owning his own business. Myself on the other hand, I keep asking and I'm not receiving. Any tips on how to better communicate with my spirit world and how to remember please share. Thanks!

[Diana]

Greetings from St. Louis MO! I'm so glad I was accepted, Thank you! I'm Hannah and I like to think of my self as a bright lovely young woman who now has her head screwed on straight. About a year ago I started becoming more aware of the spirt world thanks to my husband who has a basic understanding of how to listen to his intuition and spirit guides. Myself on the other hand have had no experience with this, the only thing I know how to do is try and force the outcome that I want which as caused nothing but pain and heartache in my life. It was so refreshing to finally have someone in my life willing to show me something different. He has found his passion, mechanical engineering and each and every day gets closer to his goal-owning his own business. Myself on the other hand, I keep asking and I'm not receiving. Any tips on how to better communicate with my spirit world and how to remember please share. Thanks!

Hi hg11 and welcome. I suggest you go to  church and pray to God for guidance. Hope this works for you.

Lim lemtsh,

Diana

[Laurel]

NAFPS is pretty much the opposite of the place to ask this question.

[hg11]

I recently discovered I was 1/8 cherokee not sure how to (spell or pronounce tribe). Which is what I was speaking about in my post. I was researching Native healers teachers, ect. but I kept getting the feeling the woman I was considering going to for help, guidance, what ever you want to call it was a fake. After many hours researching her I ran across a topic about her here confirming she was indeed a fake. Which is why I'm here. I tried to edit my original post but I can see that is not an option. Thanks for the church suggestion, but I've been going for over a year now and I'm not receiving anything but judgment and negativity from my peers and elders. St. Louis is a small town, very cliquish. Everyone belongs to a group and if you try to cross from one group to the other it doesn't go so well, but I am not giving up on my city. I'm going to help transform the negative attitudes/energy into love starting with myself. I was born in STL and moved away as after high school, only to be guided back here last year and I believe it is for that very reason. If they admin thinks I do not belong here I'm sure he/she will delete my account.

[ska]

Dear hg11

It sounds like you are on a personal journey of healing and spiritual connection.  I'm sorry you have had such a negative experience from members of organized religious groups.  Many here do doubt share that experience with you.  Good for you for keeping the focus on yourself as you move forward on your journey.

A key focus of this group is to expose those who abuse and misappropriate Indigenous peoples' spiritual practices and lifeways.  Spiritual guidance is not a focus, but I am relieved for you that this site was able to help you identify a "native healer teacher" as a fake. 

I would like to offer a few guidelines that may help you on your journey:

Don't pay to pray.

If you meet someone who calls themselves a "shaman", "medicine man/woman", "spirit healer", "spirit guide", "Native American elder" or "light worker": run! run for your life!  Run in the opposite direction and don't look back.

I don't think you should bother with "research" into "native healer teachers".  The ones who carry the knowledge of ceremony and healing for their nations do not generally write books, set up web sites, or sell their people's way of life to the curious or confused.

As for your recent discovery of your Cherokee roots - please be aware that the existence of a Cherokee ancestor is a much-imagined condition of American settlers:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2016/05/the_history_channel_s_roots_reviewed.html

The Cherokee nation is well-equipped to research claims of Cherokee ancestry and citizenship:

http://www.cherokee.org/Services/TribalCitizenship/Citizenship.aspx

"Cherokee Nation citizenship does not require a specific blood quantum. It does require that you have at least one direct Cherokee ancestor listed on the Dawes Final Rolls, a federal census of those living in the Cherokee Nation that was used to allot Cherokee land to individual citizens in preparation for Oklahoma statehood. To be eligible for a federal Certificate Degree of Indian Blood and Cherokee Nation tribal citizenship, you must be able to provide documents that connect you to a direct ancestor listed on the Dawes Final Rolls of Citizens of the Cherokee Nation with a blood degree. This roll was taken between 1899-1906 of Citizens and Freedmen residing in Indian Territory (now northeastern Oklahoma) prior to Oklahoma statehood in 1907. If your ancestor did not live in this area during that specific time period, they will not be listed on the Dawes Rolls."

best, ska

[ska]

oops!  Sorry hg11

one of the links I shared in my previous post is wrong.  I meant to link you to this article about the myth of Cherokee ancestry:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html

"The tradition of claiming a Cherokee ancestor continues into the present. Today, more Americans claim descent from at least one Cherokee ancestor than any other Native American group. Across the United States, Americans tell and retell stories of long-lost Cherokee ancestors. These tales of family genealogies become murkier with each passing generation, but like Phelps, contemporary Americans profess their belief despite not being able to point directly to a Cherokee in their family tree. . ."

[hg11]

I have discovered a lot about my family all at once which is so overwhelming. I did not know any of them as a child. Now I'm grown, they are all gone and I'm being thrown all kinds of documents, photos, stories, among other things. I think I'm still in shock or something. Not sure where to start or how to deal with the information, but I trust I will get there. Thank you for the info Ska and being so patient.

[ska]

No problem hg11!

I'll tell you something else for free. :-)

Be gentle with yourself and go forth in a good and humble way.  If you are trying to find out who you are, and what your connection to Indian people is, start by figuring out where you are. 

This whole continent is Indian land, covered with Indigenous nations and communities, every square inch.   What you have been taught to call "St. Louis" is actually just a footnote in the history of that land where, tens of thousands of years ago, the Indigenous peoples of that area had built a massive city,which is widely known about and researched by American scholars, including a few  who have shown enough intelligence to learn from members of contemporary Indigenous nations who belong to that area.

Most likely, you have been denied this history, and finding this out for yourself will be very healing,and a good way to direct your curiosity and research.  You'll have to take it upon yourself to learn about the brutal dispossession of Indigenous peoples from their territories - what is now called "Missouri" - Americans tried to push all the Indigenous nations out, and I don't think there are any federally recognized tribes there today. Nevertheless, long before the imposition of "America", there was Chickasaw, Illini, Ioway, Missouri, Osage, Otoe, Quapaw.

If you are willing to look into this, and make an effort to read and learn from Indigenous perspectives about who we are as settlers, and descendants of settlers, and the impact this has had on Native nations, this will bring you an immense amount of spiritual balance and help you shape your own understanding of what is true for you, and you alone.

ska