I'm Patti, 24, live in Reno, NV. My Native American ancestry comes from my dad's side of the family, he's 1/2 Apache and 1/2 Mexican. Alas, he was adopted, and we all know how things were back in the 50's, records are sealed and long gone by now. He fully and completely accepted his adoptive family, and never researched anything concerning our heritage, so I'm not even sure WHICH Apache tribe we're from! I grew up with my mom (all European ancestry), who had the heavy-hand of control - on one hand she wanted my brother and I to decide everything for ourselves and not be forced into any one belief system, while on the other hand we were to do as she says and not "rock the boat" by taking a path she didn't agree with. This greatly limited my pursuit of ANYTHING until I reached my later teenage years.

Most of the time now I feel like I'm just blowin' in the wind. I'm the only one of the family interested in Native American studies and spirituality of any sort beyond organized religion. I find it difficult to keep myself focused despite my determination, as there isn't a lot of support out there in my group of friends, or for the "mutt" (I say that laughingly) I am nationality-wise.

I haven't quite discovered what my "gift" is yet, although I see fragments of it/them. I see myself as a blend of many different aspects of spirituality, but like you Rainweaver, I'm very drawn towards shamanism and healing through a blend of energy/spirit and faith. I recently experienced my first past-life reading, and it was INTENSE, to say the least, as it provided me with even more background into my Native American roots, and just upped my determination to discover my path.

Well, I suppose that's enough out of me. Thank you Rainweaver for creating this tribe, and welcome to everyone else here!

Hello I am Brian. Not long ago I found out that I am a very small part Native American. I have been interested in the Native teachings for some time. So it was very reaffirming for me to find that out. Needless to say my family has no idea even what tribe or any kind of information because it was my grandmother's grandmother and she married into a white family and it wasn't talked about at all. I have felt a deep connection with the earth and animals and have several shaman friends who have been wonderful teachers to me. It has been a challenging journey becaused I was raised with a religious background but I have been blessed with the people that surround me now. I am thankful for all. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for my experiences. Recently I have been guided to explore my options for supporting myself through my art and crafts. I have made a good step this week in getting my web site started for my business. I look forward to each new moment and hope to flow with grace and ease through the challenges to come. Thank you all for providing this space for sharing. Look forward to meeting more light warriors in the future. Much love and Hugs to all.

Thank you so much for creating this sacred space, Rainweaver. What a blessing to have a sanctuary in which to discuss the blessings and struggles of mixed heritage.

I only found out after my paternal grandmother passed away a few years ago that she was half Native American, in her obituary actually. (She had been adopted out of her family of origin in Texas, as many of you already seem to know was a common practice in the imperialist massacre of the native cultures. By systematically exploding the basic family unit, criminalizing most male coming-of-age rituals, and exacerbating a genetic predisposition to alcoholism, they have very nearly perfected the genocidal defeat of all the native nations.)

This was such a blessing for me to find out the truth about my heritage, even through the death of my closest family tie. As a recovering alcoholic that was locked up in rehab at the age of fifteen, I really had to find a spiritual practice that worked for me in order to save my life. Having explored many of the world's religions since then, from finding my spirit guides in Sedona Arizona in 1987 to renaming myself in honor of my totem animal in 1989 to working ritually with water from the vessel of Kuan Yin's tears from Taiwan last year, I have come to practice a form of Paganism that is an amalgam of earth-based spiritualities and Goddess worship.

I experience meaningful visions (with extraordinary information that often helps friends solve their struggles) in dreams and, very recently, even during migraine headaches. I have done powerful healing work that has saved more than one life. I have been painfully and blissfully empathic all of my life. I started volunteering at local Native American cultural events over 15 years ago when I began studying Native American cultures at a local community college.

So, to discover this truth about my heritage was so perfectly balanced with my daily spiritual practices that it simply felt like a loving hug from my beautiful grandmother, from all of my foremothers, and from the Universe.

Just a few months ago, during a weekly self defense class, we spent two hours going over pressure points on the body. Each point is a place where energy is concentrated powerfully, so that each can be used as a conduit for healing (as in massage and acupressure) or as a target for inflicting great pain to defend against an attacker (as in Chin-Na or Chinese Grappling). As Master Ma explored points on the back of my skull as an example to the class, he felt the ridge across the back of my lower skull just above the top of the spinal column. Because only Native Americans have this pronounced ridge, he was thrilled, and exclaimed, "You are Native American," with a warm recognition that said I was now his sister and no longer merely his student.

It was totally amazing to be ghostly allergic-to-the-sun white with northern European features and have someone recognize my Native American heritage from a physical feature that I didn't even know about. I am so blessed.

Thank you so much for this safe haven to share such things.

Bright blessings,

Bonnie Margay

Thank you for creating this space. Although I am a late joiner, I am very appreciative. Being multi-ethnic is such a large part of who I am and why I have trouble fitting into the grid. More than half of my great grandparents had Native American ancestry but each from a different tribe - Choctaw, Chickasaw, Houma, Alabama & Chitimacha. They hid their identity, intermarried and claimed themselves as Blacks in Mississippi & Louisiana to avoid the evacuation to Oklahoma.

Having most of my ancestors immigrate to the Louisiana/Mississippi area from countless countries of origin in the 1800s I am wholly and altruistically a Mutt! You name it, I can probably find it on my family tree.

I have always believed strongly in an Earth-based spirituality even though my family was (and is) overtly Catholic. My spiritual growth has followed an eclectic/shamanic type of training with a strong Goddess focus that has evolved to the point that I was recently ordained as the first Guardian Minister of Women's Spirituality through Re-Formed Congregation of the Goddess, International.

I thought it would be good to point out here, for those of us with many family members who are still caught in the addiction cycle that it is very common for extremely psychic beings in western society to try to shield or block out their abilities with addictions (alcohol, drugs, salt, caffeine, sugar, etc.). All of these are psy blockers and give the person some means of coping with the constant assault on their brain waves if they have not learned proper shielding techniques.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Thank you again.
Marisa.

Well, if you will forgive the fact that I have zero known NA blood in this life. My interest lies more in the hidden connection. A drawing I have always felt and an inate understanding of the spirit of the earth. Of course, like a lot of people, I was forced into Christianity at a young age, but my natural feelings managed to survive. I am currently training to be a shaman. It is my purpose. My mission. I have a lot to learn in a short period of time. I heard about past life regression and had a session to see if there was anything there. In two of my past four lives, I was NA. The key life is the life that resonated most. The time frame we came in on it was in 1760. I was in the woods. It had snowed and was about a foot deep. I was hunting deer with "Grandfather". She then took me forward to the end days of that time. I was in a pueblo laying on the floor with blankets and furs over me. There were two Kachina dancers, one in blue and one in red. They were doing a dance of goodbye. She then took me to my spirit guide. My spirit guide told me that I had been a great shaman and I am now. My guide told me to "Remember". Then I was told to light the 8th fire, once again. A common thread. The 8th fire is to be lit when the light-skinned ones come to the crossroads and decide to join their Native American brothers. It signifies the beginning of a time of great peace and love. I found a reference to it in the Ashinabe Prophesies. I found a copy on Rainbow Eagle's site. www.rainboweagle.com
I am currently reading the works of Chief Seattle, Black Elk and others to further understand Native American spirituality. Funny, in reading it, it is like I all ready knew it. Maybe I am remembering.