Native American Ceremony and Spirituality

[untimelyethos]

Native American traditions, ceremonies, and spirituality have been a part of my "secret identity" for years. As a young child my grandparents would take me to the local Native American museum for "Indian Dances", pow-wows, and other celebrations. Because no one can deny the innocent heart of a child, I was welcomed and I felt an immediate connection and deep reverence for this culture. Their respect for nature and a belief in the Great Cycle of Life spoke to me unlike my Christian background.

However, I always felt like an observer. Because I do not have Native American blood, I find it difficult to connect with this culture. In college, a classmate introduced herself as "100% native Cherokee". Thrilled, I approached her to ask her more about her culture and spirituality, but was disappointed when she gave me one look and said, "How can you ever understand what it is like to be a Native? You're ancestors were the ones that killed mine." I think this was a fluke and that not all Native peoples would respond in this way. But it was discouraging all the same. I never want to be condescending or patronizing, but growing up in a "modern, Christian" household, I had no idea how to "break in".

After recently reopening my interest in Native American culture, and by taking Olympus Mon's suggestion of looking up and creating my own Native American medicine wheel, I'm ready to rediscover what the culture has to offer me spiritually.

There was another thread about Native American communities, but I am not quite ready for that. I need some recommended reading first (on the different ceremonies, creating totems, understanding their belief system). Google searches on "Native American traditions/cultures/ceremonies" were all disappointing. I realize that perhaps much of their history is not yet accessible via the great Internet. But I would love to speak with someone who has either intimate knowledge or experience; or just some suggestions to further my quest. Thank you!

 

[Agave]

Hello untimelyethos
I do sympathize with your situation. It is difficult gaining the trust of many native americans, altho there are some open minded ones out there that are color blind and have put the past behind. The real problem is that there has gotten to be very few NA's left that even take part or remember the traditional ceremonies, or even have any interest. Maybe the best way to get to know some tribal people would be to look into doing some volunteer work on a reservation. That may give you an insider's chance to build some friendships.

I don't know where you live, but some of the most open (and friendlier)cultures I've found are the pueblo people of New Mexico. Many of their traditions, dances etc. are still intact. There are also some non natives that share some very good sweat and pipe ceremonies too. I have a white friend that does pipe ceremony that is amazing, completely puts you in another consciousness. Proof to me that you don't need to be red in order to communicate with the spirit. Oh yeah, no drugs (except tobacco) or alcohol allowed. I think you should also find your own earth based practices too. There aren't any rules, do what feels right for you.

Here are a few books that I've found helpful:

Book of the Hopi by Frank Waters. An old book and still the best for recording and explaining the many timeless and beautiful Hopi ceremonies.

Navaho Symbols of Healing by Donald Sandler. Well researched and fascinating material on Navaho medicine ceremonies.

The Visionary by Kurt Wilt. About NA visionary Joseph Rael who draws much from his Tewa roots but even more from his own visions. Mind blowing stuff. Joseph writes his own books also but this one gives us pieces of all of them.

Compass of the Heart by Loren Cruden. Great book about the medicine wheel and how to incorporate it into everyday life.

Soulcraft by Bill Plotkin. Not neccesarily NA, but much about vision questing and other earth based practices to understand the self on a deeper level. Much about the unexplored shadow self here. A very real book in my opinion.

Good luck, I know you can find some inroads to your interests if want it enough!
Agave

 

[jamie]

I think you will gain more respect with indigenous peoples if you go out into nature yourself and learn it's ways.

Dont go to them asking for thier knowledge..go there asking to just be present to observe a ceremony or something..put in the work so that they see you are not just some hippy there to apply their ideas of a spirit guide or something to your already weirdo new age belief system etc..

At this point I would probly not hesitate to go to a NAC cermeony or something if that sort of thing just crossed my path..because I want a larger community to share this sort of relationship to the world with. I dont have that really outside of my gf and few other people I rarely see. It is sad but the indigenous people are the only ones around who seem to really have that on a grounded and sincere level(of course you have to remember that their own culture has been messed up thoroughly also so things are not so perfect for them either). It is just daily life for many indigenous peoples, not some out there metaphysical brain trip..so you can imagine how it looks to them when baked ass hippies come rolling up looking for the next trip etc..

 

[untimelyethos]

Agave - thank you for your thoughtful response. I will put those books on my reading list. I would love to hear stories/descriptions of your friend's pipe ceremony. I have a few friends that would be interested in participating in ceremony, but I do not yet feel comfortable enough to lead. Sounds like your friend has some experience. Do you do this outdoors? Are you near a reservation and able to participate with others? Thank you for the words of encouragement,

Jamie - thank you for your perspective. I agree that I do need to develop my own spiritual practices by immersing myself in a similar environment. My struggle is that I feel all over the map, and it would be nice to have some sort of "guide". But I will continue trying!

 

[dreamer042]

I too have long been fascinated by the spirituality of the native peoples. I am just a hippie gringo mutt with little to no native blood in my veins. I have had the opportunity to participate in many ceremonies and events however. I have run into many native people at various festivals that have led ceremonies and passed on traditional teachings. We often have pow-wows in this area and I attend them pretty frequently and learn all I can about the dances and culture. There are also a few people around the city that run traditional sweat lodges. We have a Native American trading post which is a good place to meet people and make connections as well as find all kind of nifty handmade items, herbs/medicines, and help monetarily support native communities that desperately need such support.

I have a very good friend that is Navajo and I was invited to the reservation by his family to participate in a blessing ceremony, there was a squaw dance happening while we were there and I had the good fortune of attending that as well. My time on the reservation was a real eye opener, I did feel very much out of place and got my first real experience of what prejudice and racism feel like through the eyes of a minority. I also had a lot of my noble savage myths shattered. The people on the reservation live in abject poverty, it's very sad to see. The traditional way of life is still practiced but it is dying off very quickly. The young people aren't learning the language or the traditions; they want to get off the res, move to the city, and make money to buy ipods. Gangs, hard drugs, and alcohol are rampant (despite it being a dry reservation) and lots of people are into some pretty sinister "black magic" types of activities. The traditional diet and ways of farming and cooking are disappearing, everyone is living off ramen and kool-aid and of course obesity and health problems are pretty much epidemic.

This is something I've thought about a lot. The ways of indigenous people of North America are fading away quickly and for the most part the youth are not interested in carrying them on. Meanwhile you have tons of us gringos who have become demoralized with our shiny prepacked consumer culture and long for the deep connection with the natural world inherent in the ancient wisdom practices. There is a huge amount of mistrust and and long sordid history we have to overcome, but I do feel that some level of cooperation needs to occur for the benefit of both our cultures.

The best advice I can give you is to seek out the places where the native people are and attend the open events like pow-wows and sweat lodges in your area. Approach with a clear honest intention and an open heart and you'll be sure to learn a lot.

 

[Agave]

Well said dreamer. A quick trip to the nearest res is all anyone needs to dispel any romantic notions one may have about NAs and you can't deny that there is still a lot of contempt in the air. Can't really blame them for not wanting to share what little is left of their spirituality. But there is a core of tribal people as well as non natives that know they need to bridge the divide. It may be the only way to save us all from ourselves. Not every thing is perfect with the indigenous worldview but any culture that sees value in singing, dancing and feels a need to honor the grand cycles of nature in heart felt ceremony, sounds alright to me.