Home: Spirituality: Native American

See also: Shamanism and Women's Spirituality

In June 1993 at the Lakota Summit V, a gathering of representatives from 40 different tribes and bands of the Lakota unanimously passed a Declaration of War against exploiters of Lakota Spirituality, intended for those who persist in exploiting, abusing and misrepresenting the sacred traditions and spiritual practices of the Lakota people.

You can read the entire declaration online as well as thoughtful responses to it and learn some of the actions taken by Native Americans.

From THE DECLARATION:

"For too long we have suffered the unspeakable indignity of having our most precious Lakota ceremonies and spiritual practices desecrated, mocked and abused by non-Indian wannabes, hucksters, cultists, and self-styled New Age shamans and their followers.

"The absurd public posturing of this scandalous assortment of pseudo-Indian charlatans, wannabes, commercial profiteers and cultists comprise a momentous obstacle in the struggle of traditional Lakota people for adequate public appraisal of the legitimate political, legal and spiritual needs of the real Lakota people.

Darrell Standing Elk (Sicangu Lakota & traditional Lakota counsellor) said to the Summit:

"We are in danger of having our sacred spiritual ways stolen from us - the key to our survival. We must raise a united voice of protest against those who steal our spiritual traditions and tell them: you cannot have them, not today, not tomorrow, NEVER!"

We respect the declaration and wish to honor it. It is a serious response to a serious problem. There is no need for us to speak for it, as it speaks for itself. Those who seek to exploit should heed its words. Those who do not seek to exploit note its challenges.

It is hard to blame a White who wants to reject White culture when it tries to own its people in order to commercialize them for profit, and its roots are in exploiting others.

But where to seek an authentic path from one's own heritage?

Keeping to traditions of one's own culture is rarely a sufficient guide. As one man said: "I'm 1/4 Turkimon, 1/4 Jew, 1/4 Cherokee, and the rest is made up of African American, German, Portuguese, and French. Which religion should I subscribe to?

And how can you choose a spiritual path close to the earth, when these paths have been almost completely assimilated by the onset of Christianity worldwide, regardless of heritage?

Choosing an American aboriginal path may be more authentic than trying to reconstruct paths that have been lost. There are genuine Native Americans teaching the spirituality, whereas other paths have lost their people.

Seeking to heed Native American words is not a clear guide either. As Foolscrow said:

"These (sacred) ceremonies do not belong to Indians alone. they can be done by all who have the right attitude...and who are honest and sincere about their beliefs in Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) and follow the rules."

And more recently, Dancing Eagle (Marc Tripp) has noted:

"The fact that any person would sell Spirituality in any form, shows how little they have learned from their teachers. But to restrict Spiritual truth, may be no a little better. What gifts of the Great Spirit can be owned by any individual or people? ... If we are 'all related', then we are all related to the Creator. So my brothers, will you refuse to share what our Father has taught you?

"These are my words, Dancing Eagle"
From: Dancing Eagle weavings@swbell.net
(c) 1997, Dancing Eagle, Tulsa, OK, c/o weavings@swbell.net
Reprints must carry the copyright notice.

Reader Rennie Grant notes that a Native American spiritual path has given "recovery from severe depression and addictions and (given) a happy life which I share with my lovely wife." He closes by thanking "Wakan Tanka for giving me back my life."

And reader John H. Farr says "Native American spiritual wisdom has entered my soul and changed me forever. I will never be anything other than a white man, but the openness in my heart is real. I respect your pain. The Creator's truth belongs to everybody who will let it into their hearts, and I have felt it. If it comes to me through Lakota spirituality or anything else, so be it: I don't know how to reach inside and turn the love off, and I wouldn't want to try.

Finally, reader Donna Hutchinson notes:

"I was a spiritually "lost soul" most of my life until I read "Black Elk Speaks" about 10 years ago .. and I found my own inner peace.

"I don't have any idea where my ancestors came from or what they believed in. Anyone who knew anything is long gone from this earth. All I know is some of them came through Ellis Island and when the fine officials at Ellis couldn't pronounce their names, they changed the spelling to fit America. THEY changed generations with that one solitary act. Wouldn't this be exploitation?

"I am not a Lakota "wanna-be".. nor do I participate in any sacred ceremonies, but I do find great solace in their spiritual connection to the living earth. I pay attention to the writings of their greatest elders and try to learn. Find some small way to understand.

"I can't take back the "hurt" the Lakota have suffered at the hands of the whites from the past. .I can't give back what was taken from them in the name of national expansion. What I can give them is respect, and the hope that in some way they know I honor them."