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Greetings from Scotland!
Hello
As the title states, I am a Scottish lady who has always been interested in Native American related things -- especially on indigenous rights. I am also half Ceard Traveller, aka Scotland's once indigenous people. My mother's family lived nomadically for hundreds of years until they were taken by the state. My mother was seperated from her parents and abused in a child care home. For years she was made to feel ashamed of her nomadic heritage and was abused for being indigenous. Some of us still live nomadically, but we get a hard time for being as such. My family had traditions and rites not found in settled Scottish families. I am a keeper of some of these rites and I refuse to share them, because they are so sacred to me. We also had our own dialect of Gaelic not found in the general population.
One thing that saddens me is the insensitive appropriation of Native American spirituality, culture and traditions. I am sick, sick, sick of it -- especially so called "Celtic Shamanism." Seriously, my ancestors were NOT Shamans! Yes, they had folk healers and many of them believed in nature spirits, but they weren't Shamans. Some people even believe that they can be Druids... well newsflash to these people: Druids were often elite, high members of ancient Gaelic/Celtic society who had to study 20 years learning old sagas by heart. Nowadays you can go into a new age shop, buy a book and bam -- you're a "Druid" - LOL!! Sick of the distortion.
Sorry if this post turned into a bit of a rant. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this forum, especially on Native American culture. I would also like to contribute in issues related to cultural appropriation.
Thanks for reading!
As the title states, I am a Scottish lady who has always been interested in Native American related things -- especially on indigenous rights. I am also half Ceard Traveller, aka Scotland's once indigenous people. My mother's family lived nomadically for hundreds of years until they were taken by the state. My mother was seperated from her parents and abused in a child care home. For years she was made to feel ashamed of her nomadic heritage and was abused for being indigenous. Some of us still live nomadically, but we get a hard time for being as such. My family had traditions and rites not found in settled Scottish families. I am a keeper of some of these rites and I refuse to share them, because they are so sacred to me. We also had our own dialect of Gaelic not found in the general population.
One thing that saddens me is the insensitive appropriation of Native American spirituality, culture and traditions. I am sick, sick, sick of it -- especially so called "Celtic Shamanism." Seriously, my ancestors were NOT Shamans! Yes, they had folk healers and many of them believed in nature spirits, but they weren't Shamans. Some people even believe that they can be Druids... well newsflash to these people: Druids were often elite, high members of ancient Gaelic/Celtic society who had to study 20 years learning old sagas by heart. Nowadays you can go into a new age shop, buy a book and bam -- you're a "Druid" - LOL!! Sick of the distortion.
Sorry if this post turned into a bit of a rant. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this forum, especially on Native American culture. I would also like to contribute in issues related to cultural appropriation.
Thanks for reading!
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