Native People’s

Do y o u t h i n k you are “Indian at heart” or were an Indian in a past life? spirituality

Do y o u a d m i r e native ways and want to incorporate them into your life and do your own version of a sweat lodge or a vision quest?

Ha v e y o u s e e n ads, books, and websites that offer to train you to be come a shaman in an easy number of steps, a few days on the weekend, or for a fee? and Ha v e y o u r e a l l y thought this all the way through? the Marketplace Re c o m m e n d e d Re a d i n g

Fantasies of the Master Race - Literature, Cinema and the colonization of American Indians, by Ward Churchill (1992) (The book this pamphlet is largely made up of excerpts from.) Indians Are Us? by Ward Churchill (Common Courage Press, 1994) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown (1971) Blood of the Land, by Rex Weyler (New Society Publishers, 1992) A Basic Call to Consciousness: the Haudenosaunee Address to the Western World (Akwesasne Notes) A Tortured People: The Politics of Colonization, by Howard Adams (1995) Lakota Woman, by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdos All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life, by Winona LaDuke

Websites: http://www.newagefraud.org/ - native site about Plastic Shamanism http://intercontinentalcry.org/ - Reporting on Indigenous Struggles The following pamphlet can only serve as an http://warriorpublications.com/ - Warrior Publications introduction to the multi-faceted relationship between http://wiinimikiikaa.wordpress.com/ - Revolutionary Indigenous Resistance colonizer and colonized. It is addressed primarily to the so called “New Age” movement. There is nothing “healing” http://indigenousaction.org/ - Indigenous Action Media in stealing from an already dispossessed people and http://blackmesais.org/ - Black Mesa Indigenous Support nothing “New” in finding new means and justifications http://wsdp.org/ - Western Shoshone Defense Project to do so. If there is to be a “New Age” it will be without Empires, Colonies, and Markets which have done so much to destroy authentic human culture and spirit.

Quiver distro 2009 ~Wh8.t doesithurtifa bunchofpeoplewantto believethey~ theperSonification ofHi8:~vatb.aT'asksthe. managerof a ..natural foods .store inBoulder, Colorado.."1 will admitthat~scangetpretty sillyinthese ~cl~s~. • WallaceBlackElkandGrace SpottedEagle, Indian but so.what? People have a right to be silly if they waJ;):t people operating in Denver, Colorado, charging up to. Andit'snotlike the old days when Indians were being to $50 for so-called "Sweat Lodge Workshops;" ·killedleftandpght. You could evensaythattheattention 1;>eing p~d to Indian: religions these days is sortofflatter­ •A group of non-Indians operating.~outof-Boulder, "ing.Anyway, there's 11:0 harmto anybody, andit's good for Colorado, and throughout the Southwest, and au­ :the people who .daciouslycallingitself"Vision Quest, Inc.," thereby do it.· stealing the name and attempting to steal the con­ . '. The traditional Indian perspective is diametrically cept of one of our most Spiritual ceremonies; opposed to th.eidea thatno h81'm is done by this interest. ··As· Barbara Owl, a white Earth ~hinabe,recentlyput .it, MWe have Iriany particularthings which we holdinter-. Therefore, be it'resolved that the Southwest AIM 'nal These are spiritual in natureI .Leadership Conference reiterate~theposition articula~d to our cultures. things ~andthey'8re for'us, not for anyonewhohappens to ..bY ourElders atthe FirstAmerican IndianTribunal held walk. in o~ stree~ They are ours they are not for sale. at D,.Q. University, September 1982, as follower the 8Il.4 Because of this, I suppose it's accurate to say that such Now, to those Who are doing these things, we send our ~~ are our 'secrets,' the things which bind us to­ thirdwarning. ~Eldersask, MAre youpreparedto take geth~in ouri4entitiesas clistinctpeoples. It'snotthatwe the consequences of your actions? 'You will be outcasts .never make outsiders aware of our secrets,.but we-not from your people ifyou continue these practices·•.•Now, t~de:lwhat,'how much, and to what purpose this ~ iaanotherOn8. ouryoungpeople aregettingrestless• kn.owle~eis to beput: Tha~'s absolutely essential to our . They are the. onSa who Bought their Elders in the first cultural integrity,' and thus to oUr survival as peoples. placetoteachthemthe'Sacredways. T~yhave saidthey .Now, 8urely we Indians are entitled to Everything will take care ofthose who are abusing our Sacred cere­ that. moniea and Sacred objects intheir own way. Inthis way else has been Strippedfrom Us already. ". theywill take" care oftheir Elders. ·1'11 tell you ~mething else," Owlcontinued, "a lotof ·th.iIigs aboutourspiritualwaysmaybe secret,butthe' core ~dea neverhasbeen. Andyou cansumup thatideainone We Resolve to protect ourElders and our traditions" word spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect for and balance be­ .and we condemn those who seek to profit from Indian tweenall things) that'~ our most fundamentalepiritual Spirituality. We put them on notice that our patience concept. Now, obvipusly,thosewho wouldviolatethetrust grows thin with them and they continue their disrespect. and.confidence wmch is placed in them when we share at their own risk. . some of oursecrets, they don'thave the slightestsense of thewcrd, Evenworse ere thosewhotake thisinformation andmisuse orabuseitfor theirownpurposes, marketing itin some way or another, t~ourspirituality into a commodityinbooks ormovies or classes or'ceremonials.' And it d98sn't really matterwhether they are Indians or non-Indians when theydo such things; the non-Indians who do it are thieves; and the Indians who do it are .~e~

12 AIM Resolution

Former American Indian Movement (AIM) leader' SovereignDine Nation Russell Means not only concurs with Owl but further WindowRock, AZ clarifies her argument. -what's at·issue here is the'same" May u, 19~4 old question that Europeans have always posed with Whereas theSpiritual'Wisdomwhichissharedbythe regard to .Amerlcan Indians, whether what's·. ours isn't Elders with thepeople has beenpassedto us through the I somehow theirS. And,' of course, they've always answered: Creationfrom time immemorial; end the question in the affirmative. When they wanted our: Whereas the Spirituality of Indian Nations is Insep­ land theyjust announced that they had a right to.it and' arable from.the people themselves; and therefore owned it. When we resisted their taking of our' Whereas the attemptedtheftof Indian ceremonies is land, they claimedwewere being unreasonable and coma; a direct attaek and theft from Indian people themselves; mitted physical genocide upon us in order to convince us· and to see things their way. Now, being:spiritually bankrupt Whereas there has been a dramatic increase iIi the themselves, they wantourspiritualityas well. So they're .incidence of selling of Sacred ceremonies, such as the makingup rationalizationstoexplainwhytheyreentitled sweat lodge and the Vision quest, and'of Sacred articles, to it. such as religious pipes, feathers, and stone; and' , ·We are resisting. this," Means goes on; MIJecause Whereasthesepractiees have been and continue to spirituality is the basis of our culture; ifit i~ stolen, our be conductedby Indians andnon-Indians alike, constitut-' culturewillbedissolved. ITourcultureisdissolved, Indian, ing not·only insult and disrespect for the wisdom Qf the, people as such will cease to exist. By definition; the caUSa: ancients,butalso exposingignorantnon-Indianstopoten­ ing of any culture to cease to exist is an act of.genocide.' tial harm. and even death through'the'misuse of these That's.a matterofintemationallaw; look itup inthe"1948; ceremonies; and Genocide Convention. So, maybe this1.1 give you another: Whereas the traditionalElders andSpiritualleaders, way of looking at these culture vultures who are ripping have repeaatedly warned against and condemned the off Indiantradition. It's notan amusing or,trivialmatter, commercialization of ourceremonies; and .and. it's notinnocentorinnocuous. Andthose who engage Whereas suchcomniercialization has increaseddra­ :in this are not cute, groovy, hip, enlightened, or anyofthe: matically inrecent years, to wit: ~rest ofthethingstheywantto projectthemselvesasbeing,' 'No, whatthey're aboutis culturalgenocide. And genocide; • the representationa of Cyfus Mcfronald, osheana :is .genocide, regardless of how you want to 'qualify it. Sd FastWolf, and Brook Medicine Ego, all non-Indian :some of us arestartingto reactto thesefolksaccordingly," women representing themselves as "Sacred For those,who would scoff at Meanss' concept of Women," and who; in the case ofCyfus McDonald, genocide, Mark Davis and Robert Zannis, .Oanadian re­ have defrauded Indianpeople of Sacred articles: searchers on the topic, offer the following observation:

~ . . If people suddenly lose their 'prime synlbol: the basis;of • Anon-Indian woman going by the name of their culture, their lives lose meaning. They become' MQuanda", representing herself as a "Healing disoriente~Withno hope. A sccial diso~anization:often Woman" and ch~ging$20 for sweat lodges; foilOWs suCh a 1088~ 'theyare often unable to insure their own survival•••The lessandhuman suffering .0£ those '. Sun Bear and the so-called *Bear Tribe Medicine whose culture hasbeenhealthyandis suddenlyattacked Society," who engage in the sale of Indian ceremo­ and disintegrated are incalculable. . .. .niea and Sacred objectS, operating out of the state of Washington, but tra'veling' and. speaking throughout the United States; , 2 11 . Therefore, Davis and Zawds conclude, "One should not speak lightly· of 'cultural genocide' as We ourselves with if it ·were a concern only thosepeople who use. fanciful iIi.ven~on. The consequence ~ spiritual ceremonies With non-Indien people for Pl'9fit.. real life is far too grim.to speakofculturalgenocide as There are things to be sharedwiththe Four'Colors ifitwere 8. rhetorical many device to beatthe drums for 'human 'of humanity in O~ common destiny· as one with. our rights.' The cultural m~de of group extermination- is genocide, a Motherthe Earth. Itis this sharingthatmust be consid­ criIhe. Nor should 'cultural genocide' be usedinthe eredwithg1-eatcarebytheEldersandthe m~diclne"people game: 'Which is more: horrible,.to kill and torture;· or remove [the who carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harmmay come prime culturalsymbolwhichis] thewillandreasonto live?' Both to people throughignorance andmisuse of thesepowerful . are l1orrible." forces. . Signed,. As the SioUxscholar'Vine Deloria, Jr., p~titin1982; ..; AustinTwo'Moons t~e ~e8iities ~f ~di~ Tom Yellowtail NorthernCheyenne Nation belief and existence have. become so'misunderstood Wyola, MT 59089 Rosebud Creek,.MT and distorted atthispointthat:wben a relil1b.dian stands'up and speaks'the truth at any given LarryAnderson Tadadaho moment, he or she18not only unlikely"to be believed, but Navajo Nation Haudenasaunee will p~bably be publicly contradict.ed and 'corrected' by P.O. Box 342 , ; Onondaga Nationvia the citati,on of some non-Indian and totally inaccurate Fort Defiance,AZ86504 . Nedrow,NY 13120 o. "expert.· Moreover, young Indians in universities are now beingtrainedto view themselves andtheir culture Izadore Thom Chief Fools Crow(deceased) • .inthetermsprescribedby suchexperts ratherthaninthe Beech Star Route . 0 Lakota Nation(intribute) traditional terms of the tribal elders. The process auto­ Bellingham, WA 98225 ; ;. ~: . Frank Cardinal, Sr. '. matically sets the members of Indian. communitiea at odds with one . Thomas BanyaCy8 Chateh, P.O~Box,120 another;while outsiders run aroundpick-' ing upthe pieces the~lve8. Hopi Independent Nation Assumptiori.;'Alberta ' for In thisway,the experts. are perfecting self-valida~ion ShungopavyPueblo CanadaTOM080 ' a system of in which all . semblance of hone~ and aCcuracy O'Chie~ are lost. This ill not SecondMesa via AZ86043 Peter . only a travestyof scholarship, butlt is absolirtely devas- Phillip Deere (deceased) : Entran~ .~erry Ranch . tatingto Indian societies. Muskogee (Creek) Nation (in tribute) Entrance, ~berta . Canada PamColorado, an Oneida academic workinginCan- ada,'goes furth~r: WalU!r DenDy . Chippewa-Cree Nation The process is ultimately intended to supplant Indiana, Route Rocky Boy even in areas of their own customs and spirituality. Box Elder, MT 59521 In the end, non-Indians will have complete powerto derme. whatis and is notIndian,evenfor Indian.~ We aretalking hereaboutanabsolute ideologicaVconceptualaubordina­ tion of Indian people in addition to the total physical subordination they already experience. When this hap­ pens, the last vestiges of·'real Indian society and Indian rights will disappear. Non-Indians will then ·own·.our heritage and ;~dei18 as thoroUghly as they now claim ~to , own our land and'resourCes. .

10 3 flWhite Resolution- of the 5thAnnual Meeting peopleinthis countryareso alienatedfromtheirownlives ,of theTradition Elders Circle and so hungry foraome sort of real Iifethat, they'll grasp ~y~w .at to savethemselves, Buthighteehsocietyhas ·Northem.C!leyenneNation, Tw9 Moons' Camp given ..them a taste for the 'quick fix,' They want their Ro~~biidCreek~'Montana spiritUality prepackaged in such a 'way':as :to provide October 1$~'l~~ instant insight, the more sensational and preposterous

the better. They'll pay big bucks L to anybody dishonest Ithasbeenbroughtto theattentionoftheElders and enoughto offerthem'spiritualsalvation afterreadingthe their representatives in Council thatvarious individuals right book or sitting still for the right ', fifteen. minute are moving.aboutthis GreatTurtle Island and across the session, And, of course, this opens them up to every kind great waters.'to fo~ign. soil, purporting to be spiritual. of mercenary hustler imaginable. Its all very pathetic, leaders. They'carry pipes and other objects, sacred to the" .really." Red Nations, the indigenous people of the western hemi­ Oren Lyons, a traditional chief of the Onondaga sphere. .Netion.vconcedee Deloria's point, but s'ays the problem ·These individuals are gathering non-Indian people. goes much deeper. "Non-Indians have become, so used to asfollowers who believethey are receivinginstructions of all this hype onthe partof imposters andliars thatwhen 'the original people. 'We, the Elders and our representa­ a real'Indian spiritual leader tries to offer them,useful tives sittinginCOuncil, give warning to these non-Indian' ,advice, 'heisrejected. Heisn't'Indian'enoughfoeall these followers th~t itis ourunderstandingthisie not a proper non-Indian experts on Indian religion. Now, this is not process, that th~ ~uthQ~tyto carry.these sacredobjects is ,only degr8.ding to Indianpeople;it's downright.delusional .given b'y the,people, and the purpose and procedure is behavior on the part of the instant ,experts, who think specific to time Jl!ld~ the needs of the people. they've got all the. answers before they even 'hear the . The medicinepeople are chosenbythe medicine and questions.• ' :;2. ... :~ ~ : . ,'. '. long ~ctionand discipline is necessary before cere­ 'The bottom line here," says Lyons, -is thatwe have monies and' healing can be done. These ·p~dures are more needforinterc~turalrespec~today'than'at8zp-time alwayshi,the Nativ~ to:p.guej there are no exceptions and ~ human history. And nothing blocks resPect andcom­ profitis not themoti:vation. . municat1.onfaster andmore effectively than delusions by· There are many Nations with many and varied pro­ one party about another. We've got real problems today, cedures specificallyfor the welfare of their people. These. .tremendous problems which threatenthe.survlval:of the processes and ceremonies are of the most Sacred Nature. planet. Indians and non-Indians must confront these The Council finds the open display of these ceremonies problems together, and this means we must have honest contrary to these Sacredinstructions. ' dialogue, but this dialogue is impossible so long' as 'non­ Therefore, be. warned that these individuals are Indians remain deluded about things as'basic as Indian. moving aboutplaying upon the spiritual needs and igno­ spirituality." rance of ournon-Indianbrothers and sisters. Thevalue of Things would be bad enough if·American Indian these instructions and ceremonies are questionable, realities were being distorted only through books and maybe meanfngless, and hurtful to the individual carry- movies. But, since 1970, -there has also been ,8 rapid ing f~se messages. There are questions that snoufa"'o'e increase in the.number of individuals purporting to' sell asked of these individuals: . "Indian wisdom" in a mora practical way. Following the 1) WhatNation does the..pe.rson represent? ' example.of people such as the "Yogi ~~~~1' .and 2) Wluitis the~ Clan and Society? . ~aharaiiJi,~ who havebuiltlucrative careerS marketing 3) 'Who instruete~ them andwhere did they learn? bastardizationsofEastAsianmysticism,thesenewentre­ 4)· What is their home address~ . preneurshavebeguncleaningupon selling"NativeAmer­ Unoinformationisforthcoming, you'mayinquire at ican Ceremonies" for a fee. the addresses listed below, and we 'will try to find out about themfor you." ;

4 9 For allthe above reasons, the Circle of Elders of the .- . Indigenous Nations of NorthAmenca,'therepresentative. As JanetMcClpud, a long-timefishing righ~.activist body of traditional indigenous leadershiponthis ·conti+· and elder'ofthe :I\118lip Nation, puts it, ·Firstthey came nent, requestedthatthe American IndianMoveInentun­ to take ourlandandwater, then ourfish andgame. Then dertake to endthe' 8.ctivities ofthosed~cribed as"-Plastic ' they wanted ourmineralrescurceeend, to getthem, they .medicine men.'; The possibly sexist'desCriptot', 'tafers ~,' tried to take 'our governments. Now they want ourreli­ .individualsofbothgenderstradinghi the ~om;Qle.reializa~: gions aswell, ~ of a sudden, we have a lot of unserupu­ tionofindigenousspirituality. At itsNation81 Leadership ':, lous idiots" rl:innirig' around saying they're medicine Conference in 1984, -AIM passed a resolutionitidica1;jng people. And theY'll sell you a'sweat lodge ceremony for that the will ofthe elders would be implemented. Specif­ fifty bucks. It's not only wrong, its obscene. Indians don't ically mentioned in the'AIM resolution were .."Sun Bear selltheirspiritualityto anybody, for anyprice.Thisis just andthe so-called BearTiiQe Medicine Societ~ and MWal­ anotherin a very long series of thefts from Indian people: lace Black Elk and [the late]' Grace Spotted' Eagle of and, in some ways, this is the worst one yet." Denver, Colorado," aswellasotherslikeCyfusMcDonald, McCloU:~is scornful of themanynon-Indianindivid-. BrookMedicine Eagle (spelled MEgo" iD. thereeolution);: uals who have taken up such practices professionally. Osheana' Fast Wolf and a corporation .dubbed .-Vision "These people run off to reservations acting all lost and .Quest.n Others, suchasDyhaniYwahoo, ROllingThunder, hopeless, really pathetic. So" some elder is nice enough, and MBeal.\tiful Painted Arrow" have been subsequently ~ considerate'enough to be kind to them, and how dothey addedto the list. trepay this generosity?Afterfifteen minute~ with a &piri- As Russell Means put' it at the time, "These people 1tualleader, they consider themselves 'certified'medicine have insisted upon making themselves pariahs within tpeople, and then run amok, 'spreading the word'---for a their own 'conUnunities, and they 'Will have to bear the ~fee. Some of themevenproclaim.themselves to be 'official consequences of that. As to whitepeople who think it's ~pirltual representatives' of vazious Indian peoples. I'm' 'cute, 'or neat or groovY'or keen to hook up with plastic' talking about people like Dyhani Ywahoo and Lynn An- medicine men, to subsidize and promote them,"and claim drews, It's'absolutely disgusting." ,' 'you andthey have sonie fundamental nght'-to desecrate But her real disdain is for those Indians who have our spiritual traditions, I've:got a piece of news for' you. taken up the practice of marketing their heritage'to the You have no suchright. Ourreligionsare ours. Period; We highest bidder. -We've. also got Indians who are doing have very strong reasons for keeping certain things pri­ these 'things," McCloud continues. "We've got our Sun vate, whether you understand them or not. And we have Bears and our Wallace Black Elks and others who'd sell every human right to deny them to you, whetheryou like' their'own mother if they thought it would tum a quick it or not. . .buck. What"they're selling isn't theirs to sell, 'and they -You can either respect our basic rights or not re-' knowit.They'rethieves andsell-outs, andtheyknowthat spectthem,·Means wenton. MIf you do, you're an ally and, too. That's why you never see them around Indian'people we're ready and willing to join hands with you'on other anymore. When we ·have our traditional meetings and issues. If yQQ. do not, 'you are at best a thief. More impor­ gatherings, you never see the Sun Beers and those sorts tantly, you are a thief of the sort who is willing to risk' ·showing up." . undermining oursense of the'integrityofour cultures for As Thomas Banyacya, a spiritual elder of the Hopi, your own perceived self-interest. That means you are explains, -thesepeople havenothingtosayonthematters complicit in a process of' cultural genocide, or 'at least ,they claim. to be so' expert about.~To whites, they claim attempted cultural genocide, aimed at American Indian "they're, 'inessengers,' but from whom? They are not the people, That makes you an enemy, to say the least. And messengers of Indianpeople. I am. a messenger, 'and I do believe me when I say we're preparedto deal with you as 'net charge for my ceremonies." . such."

8 5 .. Some of the mare sophisticatedmarketeers, such as SunBear, have ai-iuedthatthe criticismsofMcCloud·8.nd· Banyacya ~ misguided..Sun Bearlias' claimed that the According' to Rick Williams, a Cheyenne/Lakota ceremonies'and"wisdom" he peddles arenottrUly Inman; working at the University'of Colorado, "Sun Bear isn't although they are still "based.on" Indian traditionS. Yet, recognized f\S'any s~ of leader, spiritual or otherwise, hispremotionalliteraturestillrefersto "Native'A.ni.erican his W~dom," .among ·own Chippewa people. He's not qualified. It Spiiitu8.1 and offers ceremonies, such as .the takes, a lifetime of app;renticeship to become the sort of .sweat lodge for $50 per session, and Mvision quests" at :spiritualleaderSunBearclaims to be, and neverwent. i.$150. . . ; '. he through any (!)£~at. He'si\}staguywho hasn'tbeenhome ·Since when is the sweat not an Indian ceremony?" ,to the White EarthReservationIn 25 years, prete~dingto demands Russell Means, an outspoken critic of SunBear be somethinghe'snot,feeding hisownego andmakinghis ·andhiscolleagues. MIt's not'basedon'anIndianceremony, living misleading'a lot of sincere, butvery sillypeople,'In an.Indian ceremony. is his so-called·'vision it is So quest,' a lot of ways he.remlnds you' of a low grade Jimmy.: ·thepipe, his use of thepipe, sage andalltherestof it..Sun ~. SwaggartorPatRObertson-type individual." . Bear·isa liar, andso are all the restof themwho'are doing Williams 'goes on, ·Sun Bear, hasn't started a new. what he's dcing. All of them knowgood and well that the tribe. Nobody canjustup and st~a newtribe. Whathe's only,reason anybodyis buyingtheirproductis because of done is,start a cult. And this cult he's startedis playing thisimageof "Indlan-nese"·theyproject. Themostnon-In­ with some very powerful things, like the pipe. That's not dian thing about Sun Bear's ceremonies is that he's per­ only stupidandmalicious, It'sdangerous. • ..' sonally prostituted the .whole thing'by, turning it into a The danger-Williams refers to has to do with the money-makingventure." ·verypowerwhichmakes American Indian spirituality so Sun Bear has also contended that. criticism of his appea.14lg to non-Indians inthe first place. According to activities is ill-founded because he has arrived at a spiri­ ·the late Matthew .King, an elder spiritual leader among. wheel~is tual stew of several traditioD.$-his medlcine ·the OglalaLakotaj*Eachpartofourreligionhasitspower Shoshoni and his herbal and other healing i-emedies ac­ ;and its purpose; Eachpeople has their own ways. You crue fMm nw:r:lerous peoples" while many of hiS other cannot ~ these ways ~gether, because each people's ~ceremonies are Lakota in origin-and because he's ways arebalanced, Destroyingbalanceisa disrespectand startedhis own Mtribe," of which he's pronouncedhimself very dang~W1.~ ~ whyit'sforbidden. .- medicine chief•.Of.course, membership in this odd new *Many things are"forbidden in.our religion,· King! entity, composed almost exclusively· of Euro8.merlcans.. contdnued, ~ forbidden, things are acts of disrespect, : comea with·a heftypricetagattached.Theideahascaught things whiQh unbalance power, These things must be on.amongsPiritual hucksters, aswitneasedbythe forma­ Je~ed,.and:the learning jS,very difficult.'This is why tion of a similarfees-paid'group in Florida, headed by' a ·tJt~re m·v~ry,~.few,~ea1'medicine men' among us; only a 'non-Indian calling himselfMehlefPie~g.,Eyes." .". few are"chosen.Forsomeone whohasnotlearnedhow our -nus ~ exa~ythe problem," says Nllak Butler, an . balanceismamtafned, to pretendto be a medicine manis -Inuit activist working in Sap. Francisco. "Sun, Bear says very, very'dange~us •. It\is a big disresp~ctto the powera :he's notrevealing some sort of secret Indian ways when­ andcancause'greatharm. to whoeveris doiDgit, to those 'everthere are Indians aroundto--hearhim. Therestof the he 'claimsto bete4ching,tonature,toeverything. Itisvery 'time, ~'s the most,'Indian' guy around, to hear him tell bad..." . ' ,., , .. ;. ·it. Wheneverhe's domghis spiel, anyway. But, you see, if there were.any truth to his rap, he.wouldn't have to be ronning aroundstarting'new tribes' and~ghimself head honcho and dues collector. He'd be a leader among his own p~C?ple." 7 6