False wisdom.

I posted this on FB yesterday but it bears repeating here: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not fall prey to internet snake oil salesmen peddling false "Native Wisdom". Specifically, I've noticed the oft-repeated "Cherokee legend" of the grandfather telling the story of the two wolves fighting inside him. While I understand that this story certainly sounds Indian, insofar as it fits the accepted template of Indian wisdom and stories held by Americans in general, and that it is indeed a good moral story to tell our children, IT IS NOT CHEROKEE! Or any other tribe, for that matter. By best estimate it was first told by Billy Graham in a book in the late 70s and attributed to an Eskimo who owned two dogs who he had taught to fight on command but only fed one of them so he could control the outcome. The telling and retelling of stories such as these under the guise of "old Indian Legends" does nothing more than perpetuate damaging and restrictive stereotypes of Indian cultures. There are a number of reasons why this is true but, since I dont' have a whole lotta time today, I'll ask you to read them here apihtawikosisan.com/2012/02/21/check-the-tag-on-that-indian-story/ and here www.tumblr.com/tagged/two-wolves and also here digatisdi.tumblr.com/post/17640347644. Native cultures do indeed have many many important things to teach, but the ones who need the lessons can never absorb them if their ears, eyes, and minds are clogged, blinded, shut by hijacked imagery and symbolism and fake sources of "ancient wisdom". We n'de ya ho! (I am of the great spirit, Cherokee Morning Song) dc.