RA>Yes, it's those leaders who know what they are doing who make me
  >nauseated, not so much the followers who have been deluded into thinking
  >that what they are doing is acceptable.  Although some of them have an
  >in-your-face approach that turns me off, I'd say that on the whole I feel
  >sorrow for the followers and a tremendous sense of waste.  They tend to
  >have more positive attitudes toward Native people than many in the
  >dominant culture, and if those attitudes were channeled into something
  >constructive, it could help bring about some needed changes in the way
  >the dominant culture thinks about/acts toward Native people.  When the
  >positive attitudes get sidetracked by changing one stereotype for
  >another, nothing that needs changing gets changed.
That's true.  I've met many *wanabis* that I really like.  And I've met
folks who are close to (good friends or mates with) Indians who are just
regular people, accepting who I am and who they are.  Hey, folks, just
because you know or like an Indian doesn't necessarily make you a
wanabi.  I have a close female friend who is a very dark Italian and who
is the mate of an even darker Hopi.  (What is this Italian/Indian
thing anyway?)  She is always very careful to make sure folks know she's
*not* an Indian.  She doesn't want to pass as something she's not.  And
she *could* pass, too.  She's fine being Italian.  But she's also always
been there when some part of the native movement has needed her.
                   Sondra
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 þ SLMR 2.1a þ NR] þ My reality check just bounced.
--- Opus-CBCS 1.7x via O_QWKer 1.1
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