You don’t need to be a doctor today to that … just call yourself a ‘Faith Healer’, ‘Shaman’ or ‘Medicine Person’ … don’t need no fancy institution or organization to get those credentials.
I’m Indigenous in Canada and human gullibility, taking advantage of people and charlatanism is not something that Indigenous people are immune to … we have our problems with nutjobs who pretend they are more powerful than anyone else for one reason or another. We have our religious leaders who think they have more power than anyone else just because they want to.
I once met a traditional ‘Shaman’ at a Pow Wow who did a whole ceremony in front of people telling them how great he was and how his brews, herbs and remedies and chants and singing could cure anything … he even claimed he could cure cancer. I talked to him for a while and you’d think he was genuine but when it came to receiving his medicine bundle I asked him how much and he said ‘how much is your health worth to you?’ … I immediately thought that was a fantastic sales pitch, gave him $20 and told everyone I met that he was just another fraud. A day later he appeared in the local paper saying he had healed a woman with cancer … the woman died a few months later and we never heard from this faith healer again.
It’s an unwritten rule at Pow Wows and traditional gatherings when you meet or greet performers, singers, dancers, traditional people, elders … especially if they have something to sell or a product to push … you give them money either to buy something or to offer a donation of sorts to support them. It’s also why I talked to them, to try to figure out how genuine they are.
I gave the supposed traditional person something out of protocol but I didn’t want to give too much or too little. At the same event, I bought craftwork, mocassins and artwork and spent about $200-$300 on other people.
As a rule, if you ever attend a Native event like a Pow Wow, bring about $100 in small denominations in cash and use it to buy food, drinks, crafts and ask if and where you can donate or give contributions to singers, dancers who are performing. If you aren’t sure what to do, just ask an organizer, they are always willing to give information. If you can spend more, the better … it’s how all these events are able to be maintained.
EDIT: I was rereading this and realized that $100 is a bit generous for an event like this and there might be people who don’t have that kind of money to spend (including myself). Spend $5, $10, or as much as you can give if you can. I usually attend about two or three Pow Wows a year and spend on average about $100 at each (if I can afford it) usually with friends and family or people they know just to help them out. The main reason for giving money in donations is that all these performers and Pow Wow people spend a fortune on their regalia (outfits - they are not costumes!), taking time to practice and learn and teach and in travelling to many events during the year. And the food vendors also spend a lot of money on being able to attend these events.
You don’t need to be a doctor today to that … just call yourself a ‘Faith Healer’, ‘Shaman’ or ‘Medicine Person’ … don’t need no fancy institution or organization to get those credentials.
The US just elected one as president… for the second time. Promised to cure all of the country’s ills… again.
You don’t need to be a doctor today to that … just call yourself a ‘Faith Healer’, ‘Shaman’ or ‘Medicine Person’ … don’t need no fancy institution or organization to get those credentials.
I’m Indigenous in Canada and human gullibility, taking advantage of people and charlatanism is not something that Indigenous people are immune to … we have our problems with nutjobs who pretend they are more powerful than anyone else for one reason or another. We have our religious leaders who think they have more power than anyone else just because they want to.
I once met a traditional ‘Shaman’ at a Pow Wow who did a whole ceremony in front of people telling them how great he was and how his brews, herbs and remedies and chants and singing could cure anything … he even claimed he could cure cancer. I talked to him for a while and you’d think he was genuine but when it came to receiving his medicine bundle I asked him how much and he said ‘how much is your health worth to you?’ … I immediately thought that was a fantastic sales pitch, gave him $20 and told everyone I met that he was just another fraud. A day later he appeared in the local paper saying he had healed a woman with cancer … the woman died a few months later and we never heard from this faith healer again.
Just one question - why’d you give him 20$?
It’s an unwritten rule at Pow Wows and traditional gatherings when you meet or greet performers, singers, dancers, traditional people, elders … especially if they have something to sell or a product to push … you give them money either to buy something or to offer a donation of sorts to support them. It’s also why I talked to them, to try to figure out how genuine they are.
I gave the supposed traditional person something out of protocol but I didn’t want to give too much or too little. At the same event, I bought craftwork, mocassins and artwork and spent about $200-$300 on other people.
As a rule, if you ever attend a Native event like a Pow Wow, bring about $100 in small denominations in cash and use it to buy food, drinks, crafts and ask if and where you can donate or give contributions to singers, dancers who are performing. If you aren’t sure what to do, just ask an organizer, they are always willing to give information. If you can spend more, the better … it’s how all these events are able to be maintained.
EDIT: I was rereading this and realized that $100 is a bit generous for an event like this and there might be people who don’t have that kind of money to spend (including myself). Spend $5, $10, or as much as you can give if you can. I usually attend about two or three Pow Wows a year and spend on average about $100 at each (if I can afford it) usually with friends and family or people they know just to help them out. The main reason for giving money in donations is that all these performers and Pow Wow people spend a fortune on their regalia (outfits - they are not costumes!), taking time to practice and learn and teach and in travelling to many events during the year. And the food vendors also spend a lot of money on being able to attend these events.
That’s an interesting bit of reading about a culture I know very likely about. Ty!
Well, they did say that they thought his sales pitch was fantastic…
The US just elected one as president… for the second time. Promised to cure all of the country’s ills… again.