Glad to see this is not an overly popular topic of discussion. The ignorance you profess in the title of this site is aptly put, & openly proclaims your own ignorance.
Foghorn Leghorn. . .really. . .I say, I say boy, I won't even dignify that one with a response as it is flippant trivialization of our beliefs and our spiritual ways; ie. the very heart of our culture. Igno-I say-Ignoramous.
Thankfully there is a glint of hope; at least you used First Nations. . . however. . .
We are not born with these names; mine are all of Scottish and French origin. We do not flaunt our native names about like a nick name or a tag. These names are given through ceremony by an elder and are not used outside of formal occasions or ceremony.
They are spirit names and we will likely be given a few names as we enter different phases of our life's journey. I am 37 and was recently honoured with a second spirit name, leaving my old one behind.
I can't speak for our relations in the U.S., but many of us here in Canada have family names like Many Wounds, Shot in Both Sides, Rabbit, Standing on the Road etc., & most of these were imposed on us by government agents as anglicized versions of the original. . ."Drunken Chief" is a shining example of this kind of ignorant, disrespectful policy.
To flippantly toss around our spirit names or make light of it as an outsider is a flagrant insult to our culture and brings shame upon us, our families and our ancestors. . .not to mention yours. In our traditional ways, there is no greater offense, then to bring shame upon our families and our ancestors.
I strongly suggest you attend a few pow wows, form relationships with native people and get to know us as people. Avoid any movie John Ford ever made, and movies like Dances with Wolves where the white guy is the hero. D.W.W was a step in the right direction but is still laden with stereotypes & cultural misconceptions.
Watch movies written/made by native people, read books written by native people. Learn about our cultures and our ways from the primary sources. . .us.
Leave Foghorn Leghorn, the tomahawk chop and the scalping myth to the birds. (We cut braids, not scalps btw. . .white guys invented scalping as an extension of their centuries-old barbaric practice of mutilating corpses for bounty. . .to mutilate a corpse is the ultimate desecration to us and again shames our ancestors and Creator) The practice became a tit for tat thing, but was NOT practiced by native people before the most recent contact between europeans.
& please remember, Columbus didn't discover anything new; we were already here and his people merely forgot we were here. The Mohawk calendar accounts for over 30 000 winters. &. . .if we were as ignorant and simple as we are often portrayed through out euro-centric history. . .then why is it that we were aware of the four races and in exactly what direction they were living in respect to the Americas?
Check out Medicine Wheel teachings. Oh. . .and ask an elder Hawaiian about their culture's origins. . .NW Coast of the Americas will be the answer. Follow the same prevailing currents the humpback whales do and they will lead you from Hawaii straight to Alaska. . . it's not rocket science.
Nor is overcoming ignorance. . . to avoid earning all sorts of unflattering names for yourself. ;) Thanks for the rant space and hope it furthers cross-cultural relations in a more progressive fashion.
Glad to see this is not an overly popular topic of discussion. The ignorance you profess in the title of this site is aptly put, & openly proclaims your own ignorance.
Foghorn Leghorn, really. I say, I say boy, I won't even dignify that one with a response as it is flippant trivialization of our beliefs and our spiritual ways; ie. the very heart of our culture. Igno-I say-Ignoramous.
Thankfully there is a glint of hope; at least you used First Nations. . . however. . .
We are not born with these names; mine are all of Scottish and French origin. We do not flaunt our native names about like a nick name or a tag. These names are given through ceremony by an elder and are not used outside of formal occasions or ceremony.
They are spirit names and we will likely be given a few names as we enter different phases of our life's journey. I am 37 and was recently honoured with a second spirit name, leaving my old one behind.
I can't speak for our relations in the U.S., but many of us here in Canada have family names like Many Wounds, Shot in Both Sides, Rabbit, Standing on the Road etc., & most of these were imposed on us by government agents as anglicized versions of the original. . ."Drunken Chief" is a shining example of this kind of ignorant, disrespectful policy.
To flippantly toss around our spirit names or make light of it as an outsider is a flagrant insult to our culture and brings shame upon us, our families and our ancestors. . .not to mention yours. In our traditional ways, there is no greater offense, then to bring shame upon our families and our ancestors.
I strongly suggest you attend a few pow wows, form relationships with native people and get to know us as people. Avoid any movie John Ford ever made, and movies like Dances with Wolves where the white guy is the hero. D.W.W was a step in the right direction but is still laden with stereotypes & cultural misconceptions.
Watch movies written/made by native people, read books written by native people. Learn about our cultures and our ways from the primary sources, us.
Leave Foghorn Leghorn, the tomahawk chop and the scalping myth to the birds. (We cut braids, not scalps btw. . .white guys invented scalping as an extension of their centuries-old barbaric practice of mutilating corpses for bounty. To mutilate a corpse is the ultimate desecration to us and again shames our ancestors and Creator) The practice became a tit for tat thing, but was NOT practiced by native people before the most recent contact between europeans.
& please remember, Columbus didn't discover anything new; we were already here and his people merely forgot we were here. The Mohawk calendar accounts for over 30 000 winters. &. . .if we were as ignorant and simple as we are often portrayed through out euro-centric history. . .then why is it that we were aware of the four races and in exactly what direction they were living in respect to the Americas?
Check out Medicine Wheel teachings. Oh. . .and ask an elder Hawaiian about their culture's origins. . .NW Coast of the Americas will be the answer. Follow the same prevailing currents the humpback whales do and they will lead you from Hawaii straight to Alaska. . . it's not rocket science.
Nor is overcoming ignorance. . . to avoid earning all sorts of unflattering names for yourself. ;) Thanks for the rant space and hope it furthers cross-cultural relations in a more progressive fashion.
Glad to see this is not an overly popular topic of discussion. The ignorance you profess in the title of this site is aptly put, & openly proclaims your own ignorance.
ReplyDeleteFoghorn Leghorn. . .really. . .I say, I say boy, I won't even dignify that one with a response as it is flippant trivialization of our beliefs and our spiritual ways; ie. the very heart of our culture. Igno-I say-Ignoramous.
Thankfully there is a glint of hope; at least you used First Nations. . . however. . .
We are not born with these names; mine are all of Scottish and French origin. We do not flaunt our native names about like a nick name or a tag. These names are given through ceremony by an elder and are not used outside of formal occasions or ceremony.
They are spirit names and we will likely be given a few names as we enter different phases of our life's journey. I am 37 and was recently honoured with a second spirit name, leaving my old one behind.
I can't speak for our relations in the U.S., but many of us here in Canada have family names like Many Wounds, Shot in Both Sides, Rabbit, Standing on the Road etc., & most of these were imposed on us by government agents as anglicized versions of the original. . ."Drunken Chief" is a shining example of this kind of ignorant, disrespectful policy.
To flippantly toss around our spirit names or make light of it as an outsider is a flagrant insult to our culture and brings shame upon us, our families and our ancestors. . .not to mention yours. In our traditional ways, there is no greater offense, then to bring shame upon our families and our ancestors.
I strongly suggest you attend a few pow wows, form relationships with native people and get to know us as people. Avoid any movie John Ford ever made, and movies like Dances with Wolves where the white guy is the hero. D.W.W was a step in the right direction but is still laden with stereotypes & cultural misconceptions.
Watch movies written/made by native people, read books written by native people. Learn about our cultures and our ways from the primary sources. . .us.
Leave Foghorn Leghorn, the tomahawk chop and the scalping myth to the birds. (We cut braids, not scalps btw. . .white guys invented scalping as an extension of their centuries-old barbaric practice of mutilating corpses for bounty. . .to mutilate a corpse is the ultimate desecration to us and again shames our ancestors and Creator) The practice became a tit for tat thing, but was NOT practiced by native people before the most recent contact between europeans.
& please remember, Columbus didn't discover anything new; we were already here and his people merely forgot we were here. The Mohawk calendar accounts for over 30 000 winters. &. . .if we were as ignorant and simple as we are often portrayed through out euro-centric history. . .then why is it that we were aware of the four races and in exactly what direction they were living in respect to the Americas?
Check out Medicine Wheel teachings. Oh. . .and ask an elder Hawaiian about their culture's origins. . .NW Coast of the Americas will be the answer. Follow the same prevailing currents the humpback whales do and they will lead you from Hawaii straight to Alaska. . . it's not rocket science.
Nor is overcoming ignorance. . . to avoid earning all sorts of unflattering names for yourself. ;)
Thanks for the rant space and hope it furthers cross-cultural relations in a more progressive fashion.
Glad to see this is not an overly popular topic of discussion. The ignorance you profess in the title of this site is aptly put, & openly proclaims your own ignorance.
ReplyDeleteFoghorn Leghorn, really. I say, I say boy, I won't even dignify that one with a response as it is flippant trivialization of our beliefs and our spiritual ways; ie. the very heart of our culture. Igno-I say-Ignoramous.
Thankfully there is a glint of hope; at least you used First Nations. . . however. . .
We are not born with these names; mine are all of Scottish and French origin. We do not flaunt our native names about like a nick name or a tag. These names are given through ceremony by an elder and are not used outside of formal occasions or ceremony.
They are spirit names and we will likely be given a few names as we enter different phases of our life's journey. I am 37 and was recently honoured with a second spirit name, leaving my old one behind.
I can't speak for our relations in the U.S., but many of us here in Canada have family names like Many Wounds, Shot in Both Sides, Rabbit, Standing on the Road etc., & most of these were imposed on us by government agents as anglicized versions of the original. . ."Drunken Chief" is a shining example of this kind of ignorant, disrespectful policy.
To flippantly toss around our spirit names or make light of it as an outsider is a flagrant insult to our culture and brings shame upon us, our families and our ancestors. . .not to mention yours. In our traditional ways, there is no greater offense, then to bring shame upon our families and our ancestors.
I strongly suggest you attend a few pow wows, form relationships with native people and get to know us as people. Avoid any movie John Ford ever made, and movies like Dances with Wolves where the white guy is the hero. D.W.W was a step in the right direction but is still laden with stereotypes & cultural misconceptions.
Watch movies written/made by native people, read books written by native people. Learn about our cultures and our ways from the primary sources, us.
Leave Foghorn Leghorn, the tomahawk chop and the scalping myth to the birds. (We cut braids, not scalps btw. . .white guys invented scalping as an extension of their centuries-old barbaric practice of mutilating corpses for bounty. To mutilate a corpse is the ultimate desecration to us and again shames our ancestors and Creator) The practice became a tit for tat thing, but was NOT practiced by native people before the most recent contact between europeans.
& please remember, Columbus didn't discover anything new; we were already here and his people merely forgot we were here. The Mohawk calendar accounts for over 30 000 winters. &. . .if we were as ignorant and simple as we are often portrayed through out euro-centric history. . .then why is it that we were aware of the four races and in exactly what direction they were living in respect to the Americas?
Check out Medicine Wheel teachings. Oh. . .and ask an elder Hawaiian about their culture's origins. . .NW Coast of the Americas will be the answer. Follow the same prevailing currents the humpback whales do and they will lead you from Hawaii straight to Alaska. . . it's not rocket science.
Nor is overcoming ignorance. . . to avoid earning all sorts of unflattering names for yourself. ;)
Thanks for the rant space and hope it furthers cross-cultural relations in a more progressive fashion.
Presumptuous, sensitive lessons aside, chill out.
ReplyDeleteAfter one day, this message will self-destruct.