If it sounds too good to be true..?

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of those who want to be the primary "chief" of all things Native in this area. You have people who only want to control the very being of what is "Indian" because they have some misguided sense of anger, frustration or obligation to one's people. What is even sadder is Urban Indians attacking other Urban Indians for not being traditional, not having a connection to their ancestors or their people. But they sit high and mighty on land they purchased from the blood of their ancestors, watching cable TV, wearing commercial clothing and eating commercially processed foods, while using the Internet to blog about how the rest of us should be more connected with our ancestors. What is the purpose of attacking people because they feel they should have "native" sounding names? What help is this to your ancestors, and why would you dishonor them by this shallow attack on Native society? People talk about how EuroAmerica society keeps trying to divide our people and how there are those who side with them by forming nonprofit Organizations, organizing pow wows for tourists and taking on Native sounding names. But isn't the biggest enemy to the Indigenous community self-hating Natives? I am not talking about Native people who want to be Emo, but those people who divide their own. They have a warped sense of righteousness that they thinly hide behind terms like "radical" or "just" behaviors. I just don't see how natives of today are hurting our ancestors, since we are the representatives of our ancestors, by taking on "Native" names or following the red road to the best of their ability. I heard that taking on a name like Two Bears from Baca or Ravenhawk from Guillermo is just falling into the control of EuroAmerican "colonizer" attitude, but isn't telling people that they can't keep those names the real "colonist" attitude? Assimilation policies were made "to kill the Indian to save the man", and was to strip any type of identity the Native people had to their former way of life. Unfortunately, among the Native community this still continues even with our own people. If you really feel that we need to do away with taking on Native names, teaching society about Native Americans, or having a cultural Identity- then do yourself a favor and stop speaking the oppressor's language of English! That would stop alot of this from happening.

Why not just be a positive role model for those who are seeking their path among the Red Road, is that too much to ask? We need to bring our people together in unity and a common purpose, not start blaming everyone for what transpired 519 years ago. Our ancestors already shed blood during this period, so the argument of dishonoring their memory is somewhat moot. What has happened has happened for a reason whether it be good or bad. We are being asked now by our ancestors to move forward and learn the "white man's ways", so we can level the playing field and use their knowledge against them. I am not saying that those who wanted to keep the EuroAmerican hordes out of Indian land are wrong, might doesn't bring peace- and neither does pacifism. Strength of the people is what made Nations great, so if a person's view sound like a credible argument, I ask you to take another look at what you would consider as truth.