> A friendly word of caution: Blood has little or nothing to do with who
> and what you are. Nothing annoys Indians more than non_Indians who
> suddenly want to "join the tribe" because a great-grandmother was
> Native. I'm not accusing you of anything; I'm just pointing out a
> concern I've heard from many Natives...
>
> I wish you luck in your quest.
Your word of caution is taken well. I think what some NA with your opinion
missunderstand is my motive. I'm not trying to claim anything. All I'm
trying to do is find out about the cultures of a few of my ancestors, to
enlighten myself by knowing that culture better. I think anyone, regardless
of "blood", should get to know other cultures even in a small amount just to
be able to understand that culture better. When you understand someone even
a little bit better, you can learn to appreciate them more.
I have many different "genes" in me, mostly European and through growing up,
going to regular school in the US, I have gotten to know those parts of my
ancestors. Now I would like to explore the other parts. To say I'm not
doing this out of my heart says to me that you don't care anything about
others learning more about NA culture. I am hurt by that. Though I don't
"practice" any NA "ways", I am enjoying very much learning of those
cultures. I enjoy learning about all cultures. Take care.
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Leslie Harris :)
leslie@exodus.dbu.edu