What's in a name?

I very rarely just free text articles but I want to this time. I am in a process of learning the way of the Native American ... and at times I am so humbled and ashamed to speak of  Native traditions and rituals as if I know them so well or have any wisdom. Please know that I have neither.

 

 

Although my grandmother was beautiful and full blooded Seminole, I am hesitant when I write because I truly know so little.  I have tried to remember the things that she taught me and read everything that I can and I try to share whatever I find and I try to always give the site links so that others can read them.

 

 

There are so many "wanna be's" and new agers that twist and turn and pervert the Native way of life. I do not think you can "learn" the Native "way." It is not just a way of doing things, or performing rituals or reciting words for ceremonies.  It is not just that you have a love for the people or can build a sweat lodge or grow herbs to be used for healing.

 

 

I think it is a position of heart and spirit and soul that resides in the very bone and marrow of the one of Native blood.

 

 

I have been  humbled lately, making the very same mistakes other "white" men do. ((I stand in error myself when I called the Inuit people of Alaska "Eskimo's.")) 

 

 

I have so much to learn and I am so hungry to learn. The information that I obtain and attempt to share are things that I find on the Internet and so often the information is ... at best .... a blend of Native traditions, wicca, occult, and New Age philosophy with white men adding on their own two cents worth full of rituals. The news articles are for information and learning as well.

 

 

I have so much respect for the heritage and culture. I have so much respect for my grandmother. 

 

 

 Wildchildspirit  is correct in that the word Shaman is a term with it's descent from the Russia and it is not one used by any Native tribe that I am aware of.  It is a foreign word also used for witch doctors and other practitioners that walk "spiritual" pathways different from the traditional "Christian" anglo saxon one.

 

 

She is also very much correct that true Medicine men do not call themselves Shamans. Native people who practice the art of healing, balance, and wholeness do not give themselves any  title. It would be against the Native nature to boast and "label" oneself.

 

 

I have never met a true healer who even decided he would grow up and "be" a medicine man as the outside world decides a profession.

 

 

The true healer lives and walks a path of humility and honor; where  lifestyle reflects character.  Often their words are few and weighed by truth and proven over time. The truest leader leads by example, not by force or a sense of entitlement, and he is known by his works, not by the rituals he can recite or expound.

 

People will seek out the healer for he is known to be a  man of integrity in touch with the world and Mother Earth and the Creator.

 

Forgive me when I share things that are not entirely correct and help me to share the right information. Thank you to those who are teaching me.