When I finished, a woman in the circle indicated that she had something important to say about my description and use of the word, "shaman." She said that many in her Ojibway community and the broader Native American community regarded the use of the term, "shaman" as both disturbing and disrespectful. She went on to say that the widespread use of a word that had been appropriated from one particular community (the Tungusic people of eastern Asia) to represent the diverse and complex global universe of sacred indigenous practices and roles, had created a picture that was both simplistic and distorted. She said she just wanted to let me know how it was.
