WELCOME TO
NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN STORE!
Second – This isn’t just a sales site. It’s also an educational site. You may not like everything you learn here, because it isn't romantic, but what’s here is accurate. This site is run by authentic Traditional People, not 'wannabes' or so-called “modern Traditionals"..
Third – What you will & won’t find here. You will not find anything for sale here that is sacred in any Indigenous Spiritual Tradition of Turtle Island. Thus, while you will find baskets, you won’t find Poma baskets, because they are always dreamed, & they are always sacred in the Poma Traditional Way. You won’t find baskets with certain designs woven into them, because those designs are sacred in such as the Dineh or Indah Ways. Dineh is what is commonly called “Navajo”; Indah is what is commonly called “Apache”. These common names for Indigenous Peoples are wrong. Just as we Dakota & Lakota are commonly & wrongly called “Sioux”.
You will find a list of what we won’t knowingly sell here. This list will probably change from time to time, as things are added. You will also find a list of what we will sell here.
We welcome members to our Store, with the requirement that if you sell sacred things anywhere, you not even try to sell through us; & if you sell through places that sell sacred things, you also not try to sell through us. It’s a matter of “If you say you ‘have’ respect, you ‘show’ respect.” No lip service here. If you find we are selling something that you know to be sacred in some authentic Indigenous Turtle Island Traditional Spiritual Way, please let us know. Preferably, respectfully. We will check it out, & change it.
Fourth – Enrolled or not? – and why. We accept the work of non-enrolled Indians. We mark every piece as to whether the maker is enrolled or not. (We will not give out the enrollment numbers of any of our members.)
Why do we accept non-enrolled Indians' work? -- First, because not all tribes are "recognized" by the U.S. government. (2) The Native American Bone Marrow Donor Registry found they had to check the blood percentage of every applicant, because the BIA’s record-keeping is such that very few people have accurate blood percentages listed on their enrollments. And around 1988, the BIA decided to muddy the water further by not listing the blood percentage of any parent not enrolled on the same Rez as the child! That means that if two people are enrolled on different Rez’s – even if each is a full-blood – the child will be enrolled as only ½ blood!
Why? Treaties & Treaty Obligations are about uncountable numbers of dollars. If the US government can somehow reduce the apparent number of Indians, eventually, bigots in Congress reason, there will be no “need” for budgets for Reservations, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), or Indian Health Service (IHS). And of course then there would be no “requirement” to “honor” the Treaties…. Our lands contain huge amounts of 'valuables' in the majority-culture way & land-grabs have been going on here since the first contact.
Yes, this is Reality for Indians in 2002 MCC (majority-culture calendar). See? We told you you wouldn’t like everything you find here.. On the other hand, knowledge is the power that’s needed is to stop these ongoing attacks on Indian People in America. American Indian men die at an average age of 52 - from stress caused by continued attacks on our People & our Cultures. White men die at an average age of 74. Considerably less stress. American Indian women die at an average of 59; while white women die at an average age of 86. American Indian teens commit suicide at at least 40 times the rate for white teens – but the mainstream press never says a word about it. Every time something sacred from our Indigenous cultures is sold, more Indians die "early".
So – We started this Store because we are of the belief that we cannot effectively decrease our death & disease rates (which are the highest of all races') until we own our economic freedom independent of majority-culture paternalism. And we cannot keep our cultures alive if we allow the sale of Sacred Things, which by definition are NEVER for sale.
We believe that if you "say" you have respect, you will show respect by buying from us and not buying sacred things (or trying to), because actions speak louder than words. You will help us get & protect our freedom, & preserve our cultures & Peoples one Indian & one purchase at a time.
THANK YOU! For visiting the Native American Indian Store. We look forward to helping you help us & so enrich all of our lives. That makes a Circle within the Sacred Circle. Mitakuye oiasin. It’s a Lakota phrase which means, “all (are) my relatives”. We are all related, because we are all connected by such things as all living on our Holy Mother the Earth, who feeds, clothes, & shelters us all of our lives; & by the spark of Life Spirit that makes each of us one more expression of the Great Spirit, Which is expressing Itself through the diversity of the entire universe. Many blessings.
Items We Don't Sell: Pipes; Pipestone; Drums; Quillwork; Some baskets; Sand Paintings; Kachinas; Buffalo parts; federally-regulated or endangered species; sage; cedar; sweetgrass; tobacco, smoking mixes.
Native American Indian Store
Box 293
Mandan, ND 58554
email: NativeAmericanIndianStore@yahoo
.com
On the next page is an example of a Lakota Star quilt. Artist: Carol Two Eagle. This quilt is 92 X 108", cotton & blends. It graces a home in California. These are investments in cultural heirlooms.