Indians are also known as Native Americans & First Americans in the United States. Canadian terms may be First Nations & Aboriginals. "Indian" is a misnomer, coined by Columbus when he was lost thousands of miles from his intended destination, & landed in the Carribean Islands. Many native people call themselves "Indian" anyway, & while it may be "Political Incorrect", it's not widely perceived as derogatory.

DON'T call a native person "squaw" or "redskin", these are considered insults by just about every Indian I know. Indians are regular people who live & work in the same world that you do. Learn our names & treat us like anyone else.

It's incredibly rude & REALLY ignorant to tell someone "You don't look Indian", or infer that they are lying. Many mixed-bloods show the traits of another race stronger than their Native American ancestry, & don't feel the need to alter their appearance to fit some stereotypical image. All Indians DO NOT have dark skin, black straight hair, high cheekbones or other stereotypical traits. In fact, Caucasians who frequent tanning salons may be darker-skinned than Indians! We have nieces & nephews who are 1/4 Otoe-Missouria & are tribal members, but show no trace of their full blood grandmother Rosaline's appearance. She loved them all just the same.

INDIAN MONEY

There are some widely-held misconceptions that Indians get money from the government for being Indian, or that Indians don’t pay taxes. With few exceptions, this is simply not true. Unless you belong to one of the very few tribes who have highly-successful business or casino operations, there is little or no money to be gained by being Indian.

We visit many Indian friends whose homes have no running water. While this situation has improved substantially in the last 20 years, many Indians in rural areas across the country still haul their own water for cooking & home use. This is why we carry our own 5-gallon water jug whenever traveling. Outhouses are still a way of life in rural Indian Country, so high-maintenance types should stay on the paved roads.

Oklahoma has one of the largest Indian populations in the United States, & many thousands here live in poverty. The poorest counties in the United States are those with high Indian populations. Adair County, located in the Cherokee Nation in eastern Oklahoma, has a 43% Indian population, & a 2001 median household income of just $16,886 (source: Cherokee Nation). The predominantly Indian area where we live in north-central Oklahoma is just as poor, where substandard housing is prevalent outside of the tribal villages.

IHS provides medical care to federally-recognized Indians. However, Indian Health Services are often provided at a lower spending rate per person than benefits for other low-income Americans. Indians can suffer for years from lack of surgery, or even die while waiting on IHS referrals.

Tribal & federal monies are used to provide basic services such as water lines, pre-schools, healthcare, & job training. Many tribal areas still lack adequate law enforcement protection, & Indians are often vicitimized by non-Indian criminals who understand how to operate around jurisdictional issues.

The truth is, an Indian card & a dollar probably won't even get you a cup of coffee in most places today.

FAKES & FRAUDS

Legitimate Indian spiritual leaders don’t have business cards calling themselves shamans, or have websites soliciting money for their "services". They don't conduct workshops, seminars, sweatlodges, or sun dances & charge hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend, nor do they openly talk about spiritual ceremonies to non-Indians. In fact, outsiders rarely know who these spiritual leaders are, even though they may have regular contact with them.

The stereotype image of an old holy man sequestered on a mountaintop, chanting rituals & existing on spirituality is fantasy. The truth is that many of these people have regular jobs in their pre-retirement years, because true spiritual leaders NEVER charge for their help. It is customary for the person or family requesting the services of a spiritual leader or healer to present them with a monetary or material gifts.

But there are numerous "fake Indians" (& some real ones) who are distorting & mis-using Indian spirituality to make money. Real Indian ceremonies generally take place on Indian land, owned by a Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, & are never open to outsiders, not even for money. Don't get ripped off by these frauds. They are just the new-age version of greedy, insincere televangelists. ANYONE can buy a drum & dress up in Indian style clothing & give themselves a fake Indian name. That doesn't make them legitimate.

The recent deaths of several participants in a fake sweatlodge ceremony is a perfect example of this problem. Participants paid nearly $10K each to take part in fake ceremonies which sickened many participants & killed a few.

Anyone can call themselves "AMERICAN INDIAN".
This is a REAL AMERICAN INDIAN COUNCIL

FAKE TRIBES

A phenomenon of recent years (I first noticed them after the release of "Dances With Wolves") is the emergence of groups calling themselves a "tribe" with no legitimate claims to such. I'm NOT talking about non-federally recognized tribal groups whose families have common blood lines & untold generations of history together, or descendants of previously-terminated tribes who have not been re-instated.

The "Fake Tribes" that raise the hackles of real Indians are the individuals & groups who form fake "tribes" for the purpose of running scams on unsuspecting individuals & government entities for fun & profit (ego trippers & scam artists). These self-proclaimed "chiefs" & "princesses" with their fake war bonnets & dyed black hair are the butt of jokes among legitimate Indians everywhere.

We often hear from people across the US about people & groups who have tried to scam them. Sometimes they pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to take part in their fraudulent activities, before they realize it's a scam. The really unfortunate individuals are those who never realize they've been scammed, & buy into these scams lock, stock & barrel. The recent tragic deaths during a fake sweat lodge ceremony in Sedona AZ should put everyone on notice that fakes are dangerous!

We've had encounters with a couple of these fake tribes. One woman from a fake group in Florida posted photos stolen from our website as her own work, on the website of group in Arkansas, whose website is hosted on a server in Canada! Why? Could it be that they're trying to avoid US law? Are they trying to keep their website from getting shut down under the US Digital Millenium Copyright Act? Don't cross me again, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

I can't say it enough: If you are legitimately native, try to track down the tribe of your descent & learn about your own heritage. You will be richly rewarded & may find your extended family. If you can't trace your ancestry, it doesn't make you any less Indian. Conversely, joining a "Fake Tribe" does NOT make you any MORE Indian. Don't confuse tribal citizenship with bloodlines. You will still be related to people in your tribe of descent by blood, even if you aren't a tribal citizen. There are many Indians here in Oklahoma, even full bloods, who aren't a member of any tribe. But they don't go around joining fake tribes just because they aren't eligible for citizenship in their legitimate tribe(s) of descent.

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has released this official video statement, addressing groups calling themselves a "Cherokee Tribe" or "Band". They encourage legitimate Cherokee descendants to learn about their heritage from one of the federally recognized tribes, where the real culture is still strong.

Click on the link---> Cherokee Nation: What is a real Indian Nation? What is a fake tribe?

INDIAN PRINCESSES

NEVER tell an Indian that some grandmother of yours was an Indian princess. Being the daughter of chief doesn't make you a princess today, & it never has. Indian tribes & clubs began calling their young ambassadors "Princess" by the 1950‘s, but this is not a historic native term or concept. People claiming they're descended from an Indian Princess are a sad joke - we've heard it all before.

Good or bad, it doesn’t matter who you are descended from, you are still judged on your OWN character, not your ancestor's. You can bet your paycheck that the real chief’s descendants know the name of the chief(s) that they descend from.

The term "Indian Princess" probably came into your family history as a term of endearment, used by a white husband who adored his hardworking Indian wife. During the early times on the American & Canadian Frontier, white men outnumbered white women by a wide margin. Consequently, many early settlers chose Indian wives, who were an asset rather than a liability on the dangerous frontier. This is why so many Americans & Canadians carry Indian blood today. Honor the spirit in which the term was likely used by your family long ago, & be proud that your native grandmother was so highly honored & valued as a wife by her adoring husband.

Back To Top