"Spirituality is not religion to Indians. Religion is not an Indian concept, it is a non Indian word, with implications of things that end badly, like wars in the name of individuals God's and so on. Indians do not ask what religion another Indian is, because they already know the answer. To an Indian, spirituality is about the Creator and it is personal."
Seeking knowledge is a good thing - if it is done for the right reasons and in the right way. For those seeking knowledge of Native American Spirituality, it is not something you can do casually or occasionaly. That is the white man's way - to go to church on Sunday and forget about it the rest of the week. Native American spirituality is not a religion. It is a way of life. You live this way 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Native American Spirituality comes from within. The white man has many ways of justifying the things he does against his religion. He can even quote out of his holy book reasons for doing it - but he does so selectively and creatively when it is for his own ends. Native Americans can not do such. Our spirituality comes from within and we can not forget it or pretend it is anything other than what it is.
If a white man tells you he is a Christian, chances are pretty good he isn't. I have known a few white people who didn't have to tell me they were Christians. Thier life spoke for them. There are not many, but there are a few. There are a great many who will tell us their live speaks for them but it doesn't.
If someone wants to charge money for "teaching" you Native American Spirituality, they are not true teachers, they are not of our people. Like the land, the knowledge of the people can not be owned, can not be bought and sold. It is the way of the White Man to own what is not his to own, to sell what is not his to sell, to corupt it. It is not the way of the people.
It is customary to offer a gift of the earth or the hands to a teacher.
If someone tells you "Native Americans believe this . . ." they are not of the People. The Chahta believe one thing, the Lakota another and the Dine another. There are many common threads woven into the fabric of our spirituality, but each is different just as our cultures are different. Our spirituality is based upon the Earth, the world in which we live. The Chahta, the Lakota and Dine each live in a place very different than the other.
I have nothing against people who practice shamanism, paganism, wicca or new age things. If it is what they sincerely believe and it works for them and they can live their beliefs, then good for them. But do not identify it in anyway as being Native American Spirituality. It isn't. You can not be just a little Native American or New Age-Native American. It is false. Native American Spirituality is a way of life. It can not be redefined at the whim of some wannabe whose spirit can not touch the Earth, can not hear the ancestors. Like so many Christians, you will find yourself having to tell people what you are because they will not recognize it.
One can not become "Native American". You are what you are. You can become spiritual in the way of Native Americans. It requires some guidance, much introspection and much observation. It is hard work to get there but they way is open to all who have the will to travel it. For me, I would have it no other way.
You will have some of your cultural mores challenged. You can not just walk in and say "Here I am. Teach me to be Native American." For one thing, when I say I am Native American, that is like someone saying they are European. It is a very broad, general term. That is why I always say that I am of the Chahta Nation. Beliefs and practices will vary from tribe to tribe. Even within a tribe, there may be some differences between clans, villages or groups. For instance, the Chahta have six distinct groups. The Oklahoma Chahta, the Mississippi Chahta, 2 different groups in Alabama, another in Florida and yet another that went into Mexico via Texas.
If you are one of those who have the romanticized, anglicized vision of the Native American, then you must either be able to let go of it or walk away. That is not what we are. I see the "art" of what is supposed to be a Native American woman by those who have this romanticized view of us. It would be appropriate for the cover of what my wife calls "horny romance novels". It may or not be good art. I do not know. I am not an art critic. Such pictures are not representative of the way of the Native Americans.
