Customer Reviews

Indian Wisdom and Its Guiding Power

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Excellent Read on Indian Medicine!


This book is a real eye opener, and I loved it. It gave me a lot of insight into some of the mysteries of Indian lore and medicine that I have wanted to investigate myself.. As a native/indigenous person, I learned a lot about my people. I hope that others will read this book and know that there is much more to the Indian culture than what they see on TV.

Steiger is an extremely talented--his writing isn't loaded with confusing metaphors and symbols--it's pure and beautiful, and, I must add, it's a breath of fresh air. His unique strength is his ability to say so much in a laymen's narrative style. This is truly fair and balanced and highly entertaining. This book is filled with extremely interesting facts and I highly recommend it!

This is a continuation of Mr. Steiger's earlier work "Medicine Power".

In this volume Mr. & Mrs. Steiger talk with medicine people as in Rolling Thunder, Grandfather David, Twyla Nitsch , Dallas Chief Eagle, Kuichy (apprentice to an Incan Shaman), Sun Bear, and others.

What is different about this book is that this book has meditations to help you contact your spirit helpers, to help your body heal itself, transmute negative emotions and thought patterns into positive ones, etc.

In my opinion; I would suggest for you to skip over this book and pick up Mr. Steiger's later volume "Totems: The Transformative Power Of Your Personal Animal Totem".

I encourage questions and comments via E-mail about my reviews; Two Bears.

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)

Steiger's Indian Wisdom is the only one of its kind.
As a writer and researcher, I can honestly say that this compendium on Indian Wisdom is an exceptional read and wonderful reference book.

I am somewhat perplexed that some reviewers use the review section as a forum for their personal beliefs and immature rants instead of actually reviewing the content.

For example, reviewer Arline Itsehili does not write a review but a series of slanderous insults. First of all, there is no such book by Elizabeth Cook Lynn, "Why I Can't Read Brad Steiger." So we must ask why would Ms. Itsehili say there was?
To say that the book written by Steiger and his wife [whose grandmother was full Chippewa, by the way and should give her a certain right to have a life-long interest in Native American Wisdom Ways] is "so much advertising for con artists" is slanderous to the devoted Medicine practitioners who were interviewed for the book.

To make such judgmental statements in regard to matters of spiritual practice falls squarely into bigotry. The beauty of Native American Medicine ways lies foremost in its individuality of expression. There are no Popes or Bishops or any kind of spiritual heirarchy, so Ms. Itsehili and Ms. Lynn cannot quality for the position of offering the final word about who qualifies to benefit from the Wisdom teachings of the Native American Shamans nor may they dictate who should practice its ways.

This book is well worth purchasing and Steiger's research is characteristic of his journalistic integrity. There is a good reason that his works, some 150 books, have been quoted in hundreds of scholarly reference books and dozens of recent documentaries. It's simply that he does his homework and delivers the untainted truth.

Steiger is so offensive to Native people, he even was targeted by American Indian historian Elizabeth Cook Lynn in her book "Why I Cant Read Brad Steiger".

Steiger's book is obviously just so much advertising for "pay to pray" knockoffs of Native ceremonies by con artists and charaltans who are NOT medicine people and NOT respected by hardly any Native people.

Sun Bear-a Hollywood actor who went from playing cowboys in the movies to playing a medicine man in real life. Set up a cult called the Bear Tribe made up of white hippies and sold ridiculous items like "earth astrology". Astrology is from EUROPE, people. Geez, don't be so gullible.

Twyla Nitsch-a part Seneca woman who posed as one of their elders, sold "adoptions" to any New Ager who came along, and trained dozens of other frauds. Widely despised by her own people, who refuse to let her or her New Age businesses on the reservation.

"Rolling Thunder"-actually a white railroad worker who discovered in the 1960s he could make money off of white hippies by pretending to be a medicine man. Impersonated being a Cherokee, Hopi, or Seneca at different times. Made up crazy lies about Cherokees like claiming they were really from Atlantis. His son, Mala Spooted Eagle, sells ceremonies in Europe to white New Agers.

If you want to learn the truth about Native Spirituality, try reading Vine Deloria's God Is Red. But don't fall for these disrespectful offensive, and useless lies like this book.

as a Real native american..im offended. i was actualy on amazon searching for books and became interested in brad steigers books. now im not so sure. it realy is nothing but ignorance right off the back with the word "indian" in it. indians are from india. i can say with the utmost certainty that the information in this book is not only distorted if not completly inacurate but is also dangerous. i have personal knowledge and experience with so many things going wrong for non-natives when dealing with our ways and medicine. when the medicine way is not passed on to you and you still attempt to use it..people can quite possibly even die. if you do indeed have an interest in the native american church or other ceremonies for help i would recomend asking a real medicine man. otherwise your wasting your time and money. P.S. this is more of a warning then a review.

The book contained excellent material and if one reads one book, all the other books will be the same. The American Indian spiritual life parallels out of body experiences by us white people. I would wonder what this country would look like today if run by the indian philosophy. The Indian does not care how it works, just that if one prays hard enough it just happens. Not a good way to advance your culture and is a real reason the Indian lost their home lands to the white man. If you have other spiritual Indian books, no need to buy this one. I have several and they are all alike.