War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality

I was bored last night, so I started cruising the internet looking for some information on Lakota "mythology"--although I guess a better, less offensive term might be Lakota spirituality. Eventually I came across this site, which is very full of information and is a little bit dry, so I wasn't able to penetrate it too far.

What I did read, though, was the Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality. Here are a few brief pieces from that:

WHEREAS for too long we have suffered the unspeakable indignity of having our most precious Lakota ceremonies and spiritual practices desecrated, mocked and abused by non-Indian "wannabes," hucksters, cultists, commercial profiteers and self-styled "New Age shamans" and their followers . . . .

WHEREAS sacrilegious "sundances" for non-Indians are being conducted by charlatans and cult leaders who promote abominable and obscene imitations of our sacred Lakota sundance rites . . . .

THEREFORE WE RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

1. We hereby and henceforth declare war against all persons who persist in exploiting, abusing and misrepresenting the sacred traditions and spiritual practices of our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.

A few other places in the Declaration they mention the "wholesale expropriation and commercialization of Lakota spirituality," which I agree seems detestable. I'm not sure how much room this sort of attitude leaves for cultural exchange, though. I mentioned the idea of Indian "wannabes" the other day, and Nate predicted that I would become one. I'm resistent to that label for these various reasons, but in going out to the reservation I do hope to learn about their culture and see what affect that culture might have on my own life. Does this make me a wannabe? The authors of the Declaration seem to believe that only someone who is ethnically Lakota can legitamately practice any element of their spiritual ceremonies. A different article I was reading, sympathetic to the views espoused in the Declaration, offers responses to various criticisms of such views. On whether or not one can be "Indian at heart," the article responds,

If you are a blood descendant of any of the indigenous People of the Western Hemisphere, then you are American Indian/Native American/First Nations/AK Native, or whatever your People may call themselves. If you are not - you are not. It's just that simple. It's DNA and genetics, not your lifestyle and how you "feel". Period.

I don't think I will ever claim to be "Indian at heart," but still, I'm not sure about this. I read another Lakota's dissenting response here, and while it is heartening to see that not everyone is so strictly exclusionist, the claim here that "People who ask for war are not people of peace" rings false with me. Though I know little about the Lakota culture, I'm not sure they were always "people of peace."