Jac65,
You'll be okay as long as you follow these guidelines. I also put the links for confirmation.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lakhota/files/Policies
matopejutaska@aol.com wrote:
For those who have requested this,, Here they are
Policies of Lakhota Language EGroup
1) This group is moderated.
2) Learning Lakhota Language, past and present culture and friendship between Non Native and Native members as co-students is our focus.
3) No discussion of religious ceremony is tolerated. This includes;
- Pipe ceremonies
- Visions and interpretations
- Inipi
- ANY Ceremonies
- Dreams and interpretations
- Spirit Guides
- Any other item that is encompassed in the term "spirituality"
- Ceremonial songs (this does not encompass "pow wow songs", they are not ceremonial)
The Lakota religion is very real and sacred to those who follow it; Failure to respect this policy is grounds for immediate removal from the group without warning.
4) We do not issue "Lakota Names" or "Indian names" to members or their pets. Please do not ask for an Indian name.
5) Anyone who is rude or disrespectful to another member, seeks to ridicule others or uses obscene language or swear words will be unsubscribed.
6) No Spam and no direct posts from other eGroups (unless agreed with the moderators)
7) Everyone is welcome to contribute relevant material but no one is to pose as THE spokesperson for the Lakhota and the authority on all things Lakhota!!!! We have many informed sources within the group, Native and Non-Native.
8) If you wish to have long personal conversations that have no relevance to others, go to the chat room, do it privately.
9) If you are NOT Native American, please do not make a claim that you are. This group promotes honesty, if you cannot be honest about whom you are, then please leave this group (we will eventually find out).
Please follow these rules to keep the peace within the group.
Best Regards,
Your Moderators
__________________________________________________
http://www.dlncoalition.org/dln_issu...an_culture.htm
The Declaration
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 shaman' 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 phoney 'sweatlodges' and 'vision quest' programmes; and whereas sacrilegious 'sundances' for non-Indians and cult leaders who promote abominable and obscene imitations of our sacred Lakota sundance rites; and whereas non-Indians have organised themselves into imitation tribes, assigning themselves make-believe Indian names to facilitate their wholesale expropriation and commercialisation 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 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 follow:
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 etc.
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 ones among our own people who are prostituting our spiritual ways for their own selfish gain.
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 our enemies.
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. It is not only the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people whose spiritual practices are being 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 children and the future generations so that they will survive and prosper in the sacred manner intended for each of our respective peoples by our Creator.