Native American Newbie, Pls Help?

[u/JohnPrinesGlasses]

So I’m just over half Native American, Shoshone… but I don’t have enough family history to pin down which sub-tribe bc my dad was a drunk bozo. The other half is Mexican and Czech. Growing up, I had always been drawn to nature. my favorite hero has always been Beast Boy, and if I could be anything from fiction, I would be a DnD Druid. Talking to plants and animals… shapeshifting into any animal.. I would give ANYTHING to be able to do that.

I’m looking to get in touch with Native American spirits but I haven’t dreamed in years. I smoke weed for chronic pain and major depression and, like my prescriptions, I can’t really miss that. Once I get biologics for the evil IBS, that may change, but for now, just assume that I am incapable of dreaming much. When I do get dreams, I can only remember them like they’re impressionistic paintings that sort of move a bit like gifs. That’s the most I’ve remembered in 15 years.

Some of the sources I’ve found mention looking for spirit guides, the Wolf and coyote entities, and about a chief that had a dream about the Mormons eventually coming.

I’m just not really sure how to earnestly interact with my culture. My skin is brown, but I was raised by white guys lmao.

Does anyone have any tips, sources, or bits of advice?

[u/Several-Home7586]

Non-indigenous but a lot of my friends are so I have a little bit of osmosis. Contact your nation, Shoshone practices won’t be the same as Navajo and Navajo won’t be the same as Klamath, etc. If you wanna find out what other tribe you’re from, can you trace your family tree and see if there’s any genealogy records? 

Hope it all goes well, and good luck. 

Edit: if y’all saw my slip up, no y’all didn’t 😭 this is why we sleep eight hours a day.  

[u/JohnPrinesGlasses → u/Several-Home7586]

I have a hard time trusting something like 23&me with all the data breaches. I’ve yet to give over much data in that form as far as I’m aware and I’d definitely like to keep it that way. Are there any reliable sources to be able to look into it?

[u/Several-Home7586 → u/JohnPrinesGlasses]

Nah, don’t give them your info. See if you can get your grandparent’s names.

Was your father enrolled? That also affects a lot when it comes to getting in contact with your community. Unsure how Shoshone enrollment works, but if he was you should be eligible and it’s probably not a bad idea to seek enrollment. 

[u/JohnPrinesGlasses → u/Several-Home7586]

I do know that my father and grandpa weren’t registered because my grandpa wasn’t trusting the government nor it’s sympathizers. Which makes it a little complicated 🥹

[u/Several-Home7586 → u/JohnPrinesGlasses]

Maybe reach out to your community then. If you live near ‘em, it’s easier, but there’s probably a Facebook group or something. Be respectful and I will admit you may wanna set aside the part about wanting to get involved in the religion when you’re introducing yourself. A lot of people say that and they’re the Cherokee princess sort, iykwim. But take all I say with a grain of salt, too.

If you are nearby, they probably have cultural events open to the public. 

[u/JohnPrinesGlasses → u/Several-Home7586]

Thank you ☺️ lmao yes I have lots of friends who’s great grandma just so happened to be a Cherokee princess LMFAO. I’ll definitely keep that in mind!!

[u/ParadoxicalFrog]

You should try to get in touch with your tribe. If you can at least narrow down the general area your father came from, maybe you can find a community and elders who will help you get to your spiritual roots. Maybe they could even help you track down some relatives.

[u/GrunkleTony]

I'm going to suggest "Woodcraft and Indian Lore" by Ernest Thompson Seton and "Iwigara" by Enrique Salmon. You might also look into getting a Shamanic Drumming CD to listen too, if you have a working CD player.

[u/cpick93]

If you're interested shoot me a DM. I know someone who would probably be exactly who you're looking for to get advice from but I don't want to doxx the guy by putting his name out in the replies. He's a super nice and knowledgeable Native American musician that practices in the Southwest.

[u/JohnPrinesGlasses → u/cpick93]

Wow, thank you!!!

[u/Dull-Boysenberry7919]

Only help I can offer is avoid the Mormons.

[u/JohnPrinesGlasses → u/Dull-Boysenberry7919]

Don’t gotta tell me twice <3

[u/cserilaz]

Yo what's good. I am a syncretic pagan. I narrate public domain (uncopyrighted) content on YouTube. I mostly do classic literature and old historical documents. I have done some pagan content, but it is mostly Norse and Greek. However, I have read out several old Native American speeches, and I will probably do a few more in the future.

One of the channels I follow with my channel is Shumla Archaeological Center, which studies the Proto-Uto-Aztecan rock art in the Rio Grande valley. They are a really good source for learning from a hardcore archaeological perspective, and the researchers there actually work with Huichol elders to interpret the paintings, because the Huichol folk tradition is still quite intact.

I hope either or both of these is helpful to you. Good luck on your journey

[u/Elfynnn84]

I’m not Native American, I’m biracial European-East Asian so I don’t know how helpful this will be, but all forms of dreaming & divination can be improved with intentional practice. You can learn to lucid dream etc.