Medicine Men vs. Shamans: There is a Difference:

[Jezabel]

Many people have been misinformed with the conception that medicine men and women are shamans. Though yes, some in fact, some in these days are also shamans, to call, medicine men and women shamans usually is looked upon as an insult in most Native American cultures as the word “shaman” usually has a negative connotation. The word “shaman” or its equivalent has never existed in any of the Native languages and gets its roots from the Siberian language. Most Natives feel that especially with the new aged shamanism, that it is the outsider’s way to bend, manipulate, rape, and make a profit off their religions and cultures.

Some of these posers and exploiters (who are called “Twinkies” by a lot of the communities) even go as far as giving themselves their own name. “A Twinkie goes a bit further than a Wannabe. While most Wannabe's are harmless admirers of Native cultures, Twinkies are people who claim to be Indian just so they can swindle you out of money and rob you spiritually. They are usually attention-seekers masquerading as enlightened Shamans, spiritual teachers, healers or leaders. An example would be those who charge $100 a pop to put you through the paces of a Vision Quest or a Sweat Lodge (true spiritual leaders never charge for their services.) I've seen some people charge up to $3000 for a week-long "Native American" Spiritual Workshop, or $50.00 for a crystal healing ceremony. Twinkies to watch out for include: Grace Spotted Eagle and Wallace Black Elk (Sweat Lodge Workshops), Osheana Fast, Bear Tribe Medicine Society, WolfVision Quest, Inc., Quanda the "Healing Woman", and Cyfus McDonald

Twinkie authors are quite common and often have a following. Jamie Sams, Ted Andrews, Mary Summer Rain, Sun Bear, and Brook Medicine Eagle are just a few that need to be avoided.
Many of the Twinkies are peddling Native American Spirituality -- targeting people searching for a deeper sense of self and a connection with a deity, and with the earth. These Twinkies borrow from various beliefs and practices -- combining them into a New Age religion that can be sold over the Internet via books, chants, candles, crystals and so on. This New Age trend is actually a distorted image of various Native practices and rituals and in no way reflects the true belief systems of Native people and communities. These Twinkies are indeed stealing from the Native people, and to do so is not only wrong (supposedly going against all that they preach to begin with) but it is also patronizing, and insulting.

"Each one must learn for himself the highest wisdom.
It cannot be taught in words."
~ Smowhala ~ Wanapum”
“What is comes down to is this: The Native people have had nearly everything stolen from them. Land, homes, children, burial grounds, and more. Do we really need to say to them "And now we want everything else. And we're not waiting for an invitation."

The irony is: most Native principals are based on RESPECT. Stealing one's cultural identity and metamorphosing it into your own belief system is not only narcissistic, it's the epitome of DISRESPECT. You cannot be a Wannabe, a Twinkie or an Exploiter and honor the people that you are exploiting. It's that simple.” (Cultural Theft When claiming one's cultural identity turns into thievery by Terri Jean)

However, for those who want to learn of the ways, and as long as you approach with respect, most people would have no problem with giving you the answers you seek. It is a rotten few that spoil the bunch on why the majority of the Native community frowns on shamanism all together; this was greatly stated in the Lakota deceleration of war against exploiters in 1993. “Declaration of War Against the Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality

Original statement passed on June 10, 1993 at the Lakota Summit V,
an international gathering of US and Canadian Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nations.

Whereas we are the conveners of an ongoing series of comprehensive forums on the abuse and exploitation of Lakota spirituality; and
Whereas we represent the recognized traditional spiritual leaders, traditional elders, and grassroots advocates of the Lakota people; and
Whereas 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, commercial profiteers and self-styled "New Age shamans" and their followers; and

Whereas with horror and outrage we see this disgraceful expropriation of our sacred Lakota traditions has reached epidemic proportions; and
Whereas our precious Sacred Pipe is being desecrated through the sale of pipestone pipes at flea markets, powwows, and "New Age" retail stores; and

Whereas pseudo-religious corporations have been formed to charge people money for admission into phony "sweatlodges" and "'vision quest" programs; and

Whereas sacrilegious "sundances" for non-Indians are being conducted by charlatans and cult leaders who promote abominable and obscene imitations of our sacred Lakota sundance rites; and

Whereas non-Indians have organized themselves into imitation "tribes", assigning themselves make-believe Indian names to facilitate their wholesale expropriation and commercialization of our Lakota traditions; and

Whereas academic disciples have sprung up at colleges and universities, institutionalizing the sacrilegious imitation of our spiritual practices by students and instructors under the guise of "educational programs in shamanism"; and

Whereas non-Indian charlatans and "wannabes" are selling books that promote the systematic colonization of our Lakota spirituality; and
Whereas the television and film industry continues to saturate the entertainment media with vulgar, sensationalist and grossly distorted representations of Lakota spirituality and culture which reinforce the public's negative stereotyping of Indian people and which gravely impair the self-esteem of our children; and

Whereas individuals and groups involved in the "New Age Movement," in the "men's movement," in "neo-paganism" cults and in "shamanism" workshops all have exploited the spiritual traditions of our Lakota people by imitating our ceremonial ways and by mixing such imitation rituals with non-Indian occult practices in an offensive and harmful pseudo-religious hodgepodge; and

Whereas the absurd public posturing of this scandalous assortment of pseudo-Indian charlatans, cultists, "'wannabes", commercial profiteers, and "New Age" shamans comprises a momentous obstacle in the struggle of traditional Lakota people for an adequate public appraisal of the legitimate political, legal and spiritual needs of real Lakota people; and
Whereas this exponential exploitation of our Lakota spiritual traditions requires we take immediate action to defend our most precious Lakota spirituality from further contamination, desecration and abuse;
Therefore we resolve as follows:

1. We hereby and henceforth declare war against all persons who persist in exploiting, abusing and misrepresenting the sacred traditions and spiritual practices of our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.

2. We call upon all our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota brothers and sisters to actively and vocally oppose this alarming take over and systematic destruction of our sacred traditions.

3. We urge our people to coordinate with tribal members everywhere to identify instances in which our sacred traditions are being abused, and then to resist this abuse, utilizing whatever specific tactics are necessary; demonstrations, boycotts, press conferences, and acts of direct intervention.

4. We especially urge all our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people to take action to prevent our own people from contributing to and enabling the abuse of our sacred ceremonies and spiritual practices by outsiders. As we all know, there are certain ones among our own people who are prostituting our spiritual ways for their own selfish gain, with no regard for the spiritual well-being of the people as a whole.

5. We assert a posture of zero-tolerance for any "white man's shaman"' who rises from within our own communities to "authorize"' the expropriation of our ceremonial ways by non-Indians. All such "plastic medicine men" are enemies of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.

6. We urge traditional people, tribal leaders, and governing councils of all other Indian nations to join us in calling for an immediate end to this rampant exploitation of our respective American Indian sacred traditions by issuing statements denouncing such abuse, for it is not the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people alone whose spiritual practices are being systematically violated by non-Indians.

7. We urge all our Indian brothers and sisters to act decisively and boldly in our present campaign to end the destruction of our sacred traditions, keeping in mind our highest duty as Indian people: to preserve the purity of our precious traditions for our future generations, so that our children and our children's children will survive and prosper in the sacred manner intended for each of our respective peoples by our Creator.
Wilmer Stampede Mesteth; (Oglala Lakota); Traditional Spiritual Leader & Lakota Culture Instructor; Oglala Lakota College, Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Darrell Standing Elk; (Sicangu Lakota); President, Center for the Spirit, San Fancisco, California, & Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Phyllis Swift Hawk; (Kul Wicasa Lakota); Tiospaye Wounspe Waokiye; Wanblee, South Dakota." (http://www.elexion.com/lakota/rites/index2.html)

Many shamans also charge for their services, a true and respectable medicine person would never charge for their services, though it is always polite to make the medicine person an offering for the services that they provide. Usually the medicine man or woman is among the poorest in their respectable tribes.

Also, in shamanism, you may be called to the path or choose it. In the medicine way, there is no choosing, you are called, period, and in some cases, several generations in a family may be called. However, it is also important to note that each person also has their own medicine.
Shamans can be solitary in what they do; medicine men and women are not only healers, but also the religious leaders and teachers of their tribes. They alone lead the important ceremonies and/or rituals and have been passed sacred knowledge and stories from their teacher(s) and from the Great Spirit. Among the Cherokee, some medicine people are even gifted with the title, “Keeper of the Secrets”, most befitting for their role.

The Native ways are largely based on respect and tradition and many would not mind sharing their ways and knowledge as long as they were approached with genuine interest and respect so their ways could be understood. It is easy enough to understand, for example, you have a family heirloom that has been with your family for several generations and has a lot of meaning to you spiritually and/or sentimentally. You decide to show it to your friend, who then decides to copy it, change some of it and manipulate its meaning and then sell it on the street for $5.95. Of course, you would be upset, and this is how many feel of the “Twinkies.” So of course, the shamans who actually are not in this league have a lot of work to do to not fit in this stereotype if they are at all influenced by the Native American cultures.

Native American shamanism plain and simply does not exist, though their practices could be seen as shamanic in a lot of ways, another thing to realize is that shamanism is a path, anyone who chooses can attempt to walk it. You can be Christian, Satanist, Wiccan, or even follow the religious practice of a Native tribe and practice shamanism.
However, the ways of the various tribes are religions, their spirituality/ spiritual convictions. There are both monotheistic (mainly found in the North American tribes) and polytheistic (found primarily in the South American tribes) traditions and religions, each also having connections to other spirits and of nature. Good reference material on some of the many Native medicine ways and religions are author J.T. Garret’s book series, he is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Cherokee Keeper of the Secrets as well as a medical doctor, The Sacred Pipe. Black Elk´s Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux, which was recorded and edited by Joseph Epes Brown, and the website http://www.elexion.com/lakota/lakota2.htm

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[Jezabel]

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