Kindling the Native Spirit reveals secrets to enhance your connection to the mysterious forces around you. It’s a mystic map that guides the way for you to follow in the footsteps of the wise ones who have gone before you. And in a deeper way, it ignites the majestic native soul that dwells within you, which in turn reestablishes your relationship to the sacred whole. Denise Linn, a member of the Cherokee Nation, has gleaned wisdom from tribal traditions around the world, including the Zulu in Africa, the Maori in New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia, and various Native American tribes in North America, along with other indigenous cultures. In this groundbreaking book, she shares specific methods to open gateways to mystical encounters and the knowledge that enables you to activate ancient healing practices in your present-day life. You’ll learn how to discover your true name, determine your animal ally, embark on sacred spirit journeys, and experience vision quests. In addition, there are step-by-step instructions on how to make a rattle, dream catcher, spirit stick, prayer feather, and your own medicine bag. Denise also shares little-known methods to shape-shift; tap into your ability to "call" animals, plants, and Spirit; invite the power of the guardians of the four directions; gain protection from your ancestors; spend time with the "little people"; utilize the power of "earthing" to bring wholeness . . . and much more. Ignite your native spirit within, and enter a wondrous realm of profound visionary experiences!

Thomas Yellowtail-one of the most admired American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century-reveals the mystical beauty of the ancient Sun Dance ceremony, which still remains at the center of the spiritual life of the Plains Indians.

Legends, folktales, and traditions of New England Indians reflect historical events and a changing Indian identity over a 365-year period

Take a whirlwind trip down the Bourbon Trail with Whiskey Professor, Bernie Lubbers and learn about our nations native spirit. In the pages of this funny and easy-to-read book, youll learn how bourbon is made, the history of bourbon in Kentucky, America, and the world, the difference between whiskey and bourbon, and how to read labels of bourbon and whiskey bottles. Included is an updated and expanded guide to where to go to visit the Kentucky distilleries as well as other bars, restaurants and hotels nearby to make the most of your visit. There is also a guide to Louisvilles Urban Bourbon Trail. Readers will find an expanded section on drinks and recipes to make with bourbon at home, and how to host your own bourbon tasting. Also new is a whos who of the names on bourbon labels, a history of the evolution of the drink from corn whiskey to bourbon whiskey, hints on how to host a Kentucky Derby party in your home (with accompanying bourbon recipes), a list of approved bottled in bond restaurants in the United States, and lots of new facts and trivia about this uniquely American beverage. Just like a fine dream, drinkers will savor Bernie Lubbers Bourbon Whiskey. Its a personal and very enjoyable guide to Americas native spirit.

This fully revised and expanded second edition of Indian Spirit, the bestselling Native American Indian picture-and-quote book, features a new foreword by Shoshone Sun Dance Chief James Trosper.

A “profound and inspiring” collection of ancient indigenous wisdom for “anyone wanting the healing of self, society, and of our shared planet” (Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma). A Penobscot Indian draws on the experiences and wisdom of the First Nations to address environmental justice, water protection, generational trauma, and more. Drawing from ancestral knowledge, as well as her experience as an attorney and activist, Sherri Mitchell addresses some of the most crucial issues of our day—including indigenous land rights, environmental justice, and our collective human survival. Sharing the gifts she has received from the elders of her tribe, the Penobscot Nation, she asks us to look deeply into the illusions we have labeled as truth and which separate us from our higher mind and from one another. Sacred Instructions explains how our traditional stories set the framework for our belief systems and urges us to decolonize our language and our stories. It reveals how the removal of women from our stories has impacted our thinking and disrupted the natural balance within our communities. For all those who seek to create change, this book lays out an ancient world view and set of cultural values that provide a way of life that is balanced and humane, that can heal Mother Earth, and that will preserve our communities for future generations.

This landmark book combines the voices of Native Americans and non-Indians, anthropologists and others, in an exploration of gender and sexuality issues as they relate to lesbian, gay, transgendered, and other "marked" Native Americans. Focusing on the concept of two-spirit people--individuals not necessarily gay or lesbian, transvestite or bisexual, but whose behaviors or beliefs may sometimes be interpreted by others as uncharacteristic of their sex--this book is the first to provide an intimate look at how many two-spirit people feel about themselves, how other Native Americans treat them, and how anthropologists and other scholars interpret them and their cultures. 1997 Winner of the Ruth Benedict Prize for an edited book given by the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists.

A groundbreaking collection of essays and stories by, about, and selected by gay American Indians from over twenty North American tribes. From the preface by Randy Burns (Northern Paiute): Gay American Indians are active members of both the American Indian and gay communities. But our voices have not been heard. To end this silence, GAI is publishing Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology. Living the Spirit honors the past and present life of gay American Indians. This book is not just about gay American Indians, it is by gay Indians. Over twenty different American Indian writers, men and women, represent tribes from every part of North America. Living the Spirit tells our story---the story of our history and traditions, as well as the realities and challenges of the present. As Paula Gunn Allen writes, “Some like Indians endure.” The themes of change and continuity are a part of every contribution in this book---in the contemporary coyote tales by Daniel-Harry Steward and Beth Brant---in the reservation experiences of Jerry, a Hupa Indian---in the painful memories of cruelty and injustice that Beth Brant, Chrystos, and others evoke. Our pain, but also our joy, our love, and our sexuality, are all here, in these pages. M. Owlfeather writes, “If traditions have been lost, then new ones should be borrowed from other tribes,” and he uses the example of the Indian pow-wow---Indian, yet contemporary and pantribal. One of our traditional roles was that of the “go-between”---individuals who could help different groups communicate with each other. This is the role GAI hopes to play today. We are advocates for not only gay but American Indian concerns, as well. We are turning double oppression into double continuity---the chance to build bridges between communities, to create a place for gay Indians in both of the worlds we live in, to honor our past and secure our future. Published by Stonewall Inn Editions in partnership with St. Martin’s Press, 1988.

Winner of the: Gay Book of the Year Award, American Library Association; Ruth Benedict Award, Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists; Award for Outstanding Scholarship, World Congress for Sexology Author’s note: Shortly after the second revised edition this book was published in 1992, the term "Two-Spirit Person" became more popular among native people than the older anthropological term "berdache." When I learned of this new term, I began strongly supporting the use of this newer term. I believe that people should be able to call themselves whatever they wish, and scholars should respect and acknowledge their change of terminology. I went on record early on in convincing other anthropologists to shift away from use of the word berdache and in favor of using Two-Spirit. Nevertheless, because this book continues to be sold with the use of berdache, many people have assumed that I am resisting the newer term. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless continued sales of this book will justify the publication of a third revised edition in the future, it is not possible to rewrite what is already printed, Therefore, I urge readers of this book, as well as activists who are working to gain more respect for gender variance, mentally to substitute the term "Two-Spirit" in the place of "berdache" when reading this text. -- Walter L. Williams, Los Angeles, 2006

A sweeping history of Indigenous traditions of gender, sexuality, and resistance that reveals how, despite centuries of colonialism, Two-Spirit people are reclaiming their place in Native nations. Reclaiming Two-Spirits decolonizes the history of gender and sexuality in Native North America. It honors the generations of Indigenous people who had the foresight to take essential aspects of their cultural life and spiritual beliefs underground in order to save them. Before 1492, hundreds of Indigenous communities across North America included people who identified as neither male nor female, but both. They went by aakíí’skassi, miati, okitcitakwe or one of hundreds of other tribally specific identities. After European colonizers invaded Indian Country, centuries of violence and systematic persecution followed, imperiling the existence of people who today call themselves Two-Spirits, an umbrella term denoting feminine and masculine qualities in one person. Drawing on written sources, archaeological evidence, art, and oral storytelling, Reclaiming Two-Spirits spans the centuries from Spanish invasion to the present, tracing massacres and inquisitions and revealing how the authors of colonialism’s written archives used language to both denigrate and erase Two-Spirit people from history. But as Gregory Smithers shows, the colonizers failed—and Indigenous resistance is core to this story. Reclaiming Two-Spirits amplifies their voices, reconnecting their history to Native nations in the 21st century.