Money and ignorance...corrupting sacred ceremonies!

Authorities puzzled by deaths at Sedona-area sweat lodge

When I first read the headline of this story, I was shocked and scared. As I researched it more - I took a deep breath of relief when I discovered it was at a resort, people paid money to attend it, and it was ran by a self-help guru and inspirational speaker, James Arthur Ray who is President and CEO of his own multi-million dollar corporation.

My prayers are with the families dealing with this tragedy, but I can't help to wonder...what the hell are these people thinking?! This is disrepectful and dangerous. The best quote in the article was given by Jennifer Gentry, "In my opinion, it's a sacred ceremony," she said. "You shouldn't sell it, and you shouldn't have that many people in it."

What are your thoughts?

Washington Redskins...

What are your thoughts on the Washington Redskins name? I know many in our state that wear the crimson and gold with pride. Is the western states more supportive of the Redskin name or more against the name?

More Native Athletes Needed At The Highest Levels!

We, at the Native Expressions blog, are not getting much feedback on the topics we bring up. So lets try something else...with Native athletes dominating the basketball courts & blazing trails to multiple cross-country titles across Montana and Wyoming, why do we not see more college Native athletes at the Division I or II levels? Indian Country in Montana, which is only about 6% of the Montana population has won roughly 36% of boys basketball championships since the 80s. What needs to be done to better the situation? How can we support our Native athletes better? Please share your thoughts...

Legendary American Indian Leaders...the hunt is on.

African Americans have Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and most recently, President Obama. Who would you consider to be an influential American Indian leader? Someone that has pushed the envelope for the Tribes, made a difference for the Indian people and influenced change and progress for the Indian people. We have many historical leaders and chiefs from the past, but we are looking for more current leaders. Some names come to mind at local levels, but what about the national levels?

Popes apology...

We have had some interesting discussions and calls from tribal members around Montana & Wyoming on the apology from the Pope to the First Nations people of Canada: Pope expresses 'sorrow' for abuse at residential school

It started out with the Canadian Government apologizing first. Many feel that this is long overdue for the American Indians from our Government. What are your thoughts?

Thoughts & solutions to get through...

I just got off the phone with a youth on one of our MT reservations. Once again there has been an incident that has brought great sorrow to a community. The frustrations are sometimes overwhelming when it comes to finding ways to make things better on our reservations. All across Indian Country we are working on many programs and projects covering everything from diabetes to suicide to addiction and there always seems to be an uphill battle that we are all fighting. This youth was shook up about the fact that a huge group of community members finally joined together because of this incident. He asked, "why can't we get together like this before it comes to a horrible event...why can't we join up as a community to figure out ways to help families and kids before its too late?" We spoke for a good while about ways to spin this incident into something positive because the people were willing to do something at that time. This is nothing new, these discussions have been going on for a long time. Commitment seems to be the key, we all know that we have to show these kids and community members that we are committed to them - to each other, build that trust, build those relationships, and then hopefully we can start to work together at all levels, during good and bad times, coming together for each other not just during the painful times, but always. One good thing I found in this ordeal...a youth brought it up, a youth recognized it and wants to try to do something about it in a good way. A good momentum starter in my eyes.

MT & WY Tribal Businesses Wanted!!

We are placing a new section on our website promoting the excellent products and goods developed by our Native people in Montana and Wyoming!

Send us your information, website, addresses, phones and logos if you have them and we'll place them in our new Business section!!

We get over 30,000 hits per day and we want to start using that to our benefit and yours!

Get back to us through here, phone or by email: dwetz@mtwytlc.com

The New TLC Website

What do you all think of the new website? Give us some feedback, good or bad. What would you like to see more of on the TLC site? This blog is for you by us...hmmm, that sounds familiar.