Regalia Advice

[SuzzeQ4]

OK if you beleive that you respect our people then you will listen to what we have to say & then respect our answers, I will start & others can add.
Yes you are a Turk, not white BUT you are not NDN. There are things we are willing to share & things we are not.
Dancing in our regalia is special to us, we like to keep it as ours. HOWEVER we have intertribal dances during our powwows where non-NDN people can join us (in their clothes). This is part of how we share at powwow.
Those who respect us except this, come visit the powwow, buy good food & beautiful things from the vendors. They keep their hands off our regalia, ask polite questions and may politely ask for a picture, Maybe we say yes, maybe we say no. Then they join in at the intertribals, listen to the MC & follow the directions & learn what we are willing to share. They even get to go to a sunrise ceremony something we have chosen to share. And go home having learned something new & with good memories.
Those who don't respect us snap pictures without asking, take pictures of our children & during ceremony. They ask questions as though we are their for their entertainment. They get put out when told no & they go home copy are regalia & return the next year calling themselves things like "beautiful crystal buffalo spirit" etc.
Second yes there are substance abuse issues. All us many NDN's who are sober are aware of this & there are many NDN programs for this. Learn about something else. Here's one. I think it's pretty amazing that despite all of our cultural & spiritual differences (amoungst our NDN Nations) we can get together & celebrate with each other. If a few other religions could except the similarties between them we would have alot less wars in this world. Or you could look at the bigger picture of social issues (like certain government policies, actions & in-actions) and educate yourself about the sort of changes we would like to see. How about mining issues, the price of food up north, etc Or the issue of cultural appropriation. I think many would agree with me that we get tired of "oh you poor NDN's I understand & feel for you & you substance abuse problems" Yes it's there, no one should pretend it isn't but there are other issues.
Ok so now I hand it over to the next person, and remember, you said you respected us so please respect our answers & we will give them in a respectful manner.
Thanks - Suzze
Thought of something else. It is not just you. My husband is Mohawk, I am Lakota, I don't go to longhouse, I know his stories, I don't tell them, his Elder invites me (at socials) to learn some Mohawk songs on the water drum, but I don't then go off & sing these elsewhere because I respect his people.

[Kaina1128]

Deleted

[Dance 42]

I understand, this is your culture and you must keep it. But what's wrong wtih sharing your culture with sincere people? If it is something wrong, what do you think of Kevin Locke? He introduces native culture all around the world.

Kevin Locke is Kevin Locke. No one can speak for him any more than he can speak for us. he does not speak for all Lakota much less all Indian nations.

It has never been the goal of any Indian nation to "spread the knowledge" we are not a missionary people... anyone who says that it is their goal to spread Indian wisdom is a fraud.

We do not spread our traditions, and culture to outsiders... That is not something we do, especially today. Non Indians are certainly allowed to watch and even encouraged to participate in some of our social functions. I have even seen some sincere non-Indians become members of communities but that takes years of living with and working with Indian people.

Are you sure you are not wasicu? wasicu does not mean white man... it means fat taker. You may not know or understand but your actions here are very much the actions of a wasicu. You do not know the boundaries, you do not know what is appropriate and not appropriate. You can not learn this from books, seminars, and movies, you can not learn this from a website or the entire internet. You can not learn this in Turkey.

Yes we are proud of our cultures and we are working to protect them and strengthen them for future generations. We have and continue to have far to much interference from outsiders. If you want to help us, then come to our social functions, eat our food, buy real Indian art, from the artist, Indian made items or from Indian owned businesses... and most of all when an Indian person says stop.... do not push back.

You are not entitled to know "everything" about us. You do not have a right to participate in every aspect of our cultures.

[owlsong]

Please respect our elders!

Please do try to respect those teaching passed down by our elders. Simple rule: if you can't, don't!

[SuzzeQ4]

Kevin Locke is Kevin Locke. No one can speak for him any more than he can speak for us. he does not speak for all Lakota much less all Indian nations.

It has never been the goal of any Indian nation to "spread the knowledge" we are not a missionary people... anyone who says that it is their goal to spread Indian wisdom is a fraud.

We do not spread our traditions, and culture to outsiders... That is not something we do, especially today. Non Indians are certainly allowed to watch and even encouraged to participate in some of our social functions. I have even seen some sincere non-Indians become members of communities but that takes years of living with and working with Indian people.

Are you sure you are not wasicu? wasicu does not mean white man... it means fat taker. You may not know or understand but your actions here are very much the actions of a wasicu. You do not know the boundaries, you do not know what is appropriate and not appropriate. You can not learn this from books, seminars, and movies, you can not learn this from a website or the entire internet. You can not learn this in Turkey.

Yes we are proud of our cultures and we are working to protect them and strengthen them for future generations. We have and continue to have far to much interference from outsiders. If you want to help us, then come to our social functions, eat our food, buy real Indian art, from the artist, Indian made items or from Indian owned businesses... and most of all when an Indian person says stop.... do not push back.

You are not entitled to know "everything" about us. You do not have a right to participate in every aspect of our cultures.

Good words, very well said. On the issue of not being a missionary people I would like to expand on this.

Some religions are open to all, these religions (most notably christianity) have missionaries because it is there belief to recruit people into their religion to beilive as they do.
Some religions are cultural based & are more a spiritual aspect of a specific culture then a religion (for example any indigenous culture). Such belief systems do not recruit people because it is something you are born into, & in some may marry into. The largest example of a culture based religion would be the Jewish religion. You can't convert into a Jew, either you were born one or not although you can marry into the Jewish culture / faith. Like our spiritual beliefs the Jewish people have an offshoot of people (mostly not Jewish by blood) who have their own little group that converts people in. We to have a few NDN's running around with a bunch of non-ndn's doing similar stuff. These types & groups can't make you NDN, or Jewish, or African, or Asian or anything else, you are or you are not. I hope by using more understood poplulations I helped to get our point across without disrespecting anyone
Suzze

[Tibiki Kinew]

Hey Suzze! I agree completely here with you.

The great Missionaries that brought disease and corruption are not to be blessed and put on pedastals for bringing christ to the "savage/heathen" ,,, I always thought that they were the savages for the treatment worldwide to the pure people that did nothing more than mind their own business!

When I think of the crap that the church has done for centuries to aboriginal people of the planet it makes me want to scream "Open your eyes and see the damage you are causing!"