Well, Superdog, I learned that one when talking to members of a group called YIEMS in Vancouver Canada back in the 1990's; a group of First Nations writers who have been trying to reclaim their traditional stories. I knew that what they told me was true because I actually found and read a copy of one such collection: a book republished as "The Book of Dene." I came upon that while working for a paper called The Native Press, operated for First Nations by First Nations under the auspices of The Native Communication Society of the Northwest Territories in Yellowknife, Canada.
Once again...a lot of opinions. Not a lot of info. smh....
Does your ego always get in the way like this? You actually gave a short primer on The Native Press like nobody here would know what that was. Your reasoning for believing your info to be "true" is the same reasoning behind people posting unmerited memes on their facebook walls (i.e. "I saw it on the internet...it must be true). You find one book...from one mission about one tribe (with no proof about the people you're talking about)....and somehow you've stretched your interpretation across all of NDN country. Here's one more bit of info you fail to consider...we are not all the same.
But I've been saying a few times now that you don't really help Pete. You're a clear example of what goes wrong in these types of situations...
Superdog
I find it interesting that, having signed in to offer my experience regarding a person who was under attack here, I was in turn attacked.
One person here actually seemed to take the time to look into the situation, and found that Pete Barnard is indeed recognised within his own community for what he does. Everyone else just turned to attack me.
I would suggest to you that, when a group of people get together and end up one-uping each other in denouncing others, then a dynamic inevitably develops whereby denouncing others takes precedence over actually looking into the situations which are supposedly being investigated.
This isn't a new phenomenon but it is one which has reached epidemic proportions with the introduction of the internet; because now groups can just connect with the like-minded, instead of interacting with society at large.
I am finding the arguments advanced here in support of your position(s) to be formulaic at best, with little regard to real life situations. There seems to be no concern given toward actual experience, and a very heavy weighting given over to what are essentially ideological determinations as to what is right and what is wrong.
I would suggest to you that, given the small number of genuine teachers relative to the abundance of frauds who are out there, that your efforts might actually be counter-productive if you end up denouncing legitimate teachers in your zeal to uncover posers.
I am nobody's ideal anything; I'm just a person who tries to do the right thing when I can. I am well aware of the diversity and depth of First Nations' culture; for the past twenty years, I have been working on reconstructing the traditional form of image writing used by the First Nations. I know that the First Nations were here in North America before the last ice age. I know that they were the people who invented writing. I know that they had a system for mapping their traditional territories. I know that their languages, systems of writing, and traditions are bio-regional. I have been entrusted with artefacts that are tens of thousands of years old, because sometimes a person well suited to do something makes themselves available and there isn't really anyone else to rely upon at that point in time.
I am very good at taijiquan, because I had to be: I've had very large (white) people try to beat me up in the attempt to stop me from helping as best I can (twice). I've had someone try to hit me with a speeding car. I've still kept going, doing the best I can with the training I have. This includes meditative practices drawn from Eastern traditions (I've had some of the best teachers in North America and, indeed, in the world); and so, when I see someone like Pete Barnard who is obviously very skilled at what he does, my impulse is to support him because in the real world people like him can and do make a positive difference.
It has always been my understanding and experience that members of the First Nations judge people as individuals, for are who they are as a person. That has been not my experience here in this group.
