Playing Indian- the trend continues...

First to all, Happy New Year; I hope that all find success and happiness in your endeavors. Last year was a banner year for controversy and scandal, especially among the Native scene of who was NDN or not, who was a self proclaimed medicine man, those with "Indian" names, blah, blah, blah...yada, yada. My gripe of the new year has become an epidemic for scorns of years by those who seek to so call "honor" Native culture- I am talking of Indian Hobbyists. What is an Indian Hobbyist, you say? A Indian Hobbyist is someone who dress and perform traditional dance in order to recreate the authentic Indigenous experience of the First Peoples. These people seek the authenticity of this land before the occupation by AmeroEuropean settlers. This type of activity has been popular since the early 1950's. By 1960 you could find a slew of "Indian Hobbyist" pow wows in almost every corner of the US. They even started a Newsletter in 1954 for other hobbyist to get information on pow wows, crafts, how to obtain authentic eagle feathers, and how to articles on making warclubs and hairpieces. Tourism has been the biggest factor in making these hobbyist organizations popular, having those members "playing Indian" to boost sales at RV parks, Curio stores, and other public events. These people hurt the reputation of "authentic" Indigenous cultures who respect the traditions of there people. We don't play Indian, we are Indian! These hobbyist have no clue what our people suffered to retain this knowledge of our own cultures, the real meaning behind our traditions and ceremonies, or the spiritual connections of our dances and songs. They don't have respect for the Regalia we wear, buying thousands of dollars worth of "authentic Native dress" to prance around in and display there "knowledge" of traditional Indian Dance. We even have some Native American organizations who invite such "Indian Hobbyists" to participate in their pow wows. This is a big problem for our Indigenous communities, and we need to shun such people from participating in our events for they do nothing to honor our people. These hobbyist are nothing more than exploiters of the Indigenous cultures that have survive near extinction to keep their traditions intact. Natives don't exploit their own culture, and neither should we enable others to do so. So please, ask any "Indian Hobbyist" to stop "Playing Indian" for it's time to grow up.