On Wednesday, February 6, 2002, at 06:27 PM, Gil Robertson wrote:
> > We as non Aboriginals should not try and strip mine their culture or > any one > else's for that matter. Hi Gil and All, I think that what you are saying about "strip mining" someone else's culture is certainly something one should be consider. At one point in time I was worried about this very thing. We've taken so much from native people in various parts of the world and also there are those who jump into something because it's stylish. Without a thought as to what they are doing, they follow the latest "thang" they discover. When I stopped to consider that this was American Native spirituality that I was studying I worried that I might be taking something that didn't belong to me. What I figured out is that it's all a part of me. It is not something that belongs to one culture or another but these are all gifts from Creator. How can one person make proprietary claims? When I am sent visions from the Great Buffalo and even to become that One I will accept this gift with good intention and gratitude for the holy vision that it is. I have no American Native blood in me but who is to say what connections are there in the stream of The All. All these things are not static. They are living and moving and changing and constantly revealing themselves to many of us. Bright Blessings, Bonnie
