WASHINGTON: Indian
Americans are a” phenomenon in the US, but American Indians have been
a rarity in India until the visit this week to Bangalore of Navajo medicine
man or healer Gibson Gonnie. Gonnie, who will be stopping over in the
city on his way to Sai Baba’s ashram in Prasanthi Nilayam, hopes to
meet Sai Baba and share his knowledge of Navajo culture and way of life
with some of the Baba’s followers.
Gonnie’s
wife, Saia, who - is accompanying her husband and is also a healer,
has told friends back in New Mexico that she intends to
follow Sai Baba’s way.
Friends
of the couple say they have been especially impressed by
the way Sai Baba has set up schools and hospitals in India, independent
of the central government. They hope to get some ideas of how
to do the same for the Indian tribes settled in Mexico. Navajo
Indians recently sponsored an international meeting on uranium mining
in their state and it was during this meeting that they were approached
by some Indians from South Asia who asked for their benediction.
Cultural
exchange
This is where
Gonnie came into the picture. The idea of a cultural exchange emerged
after he performed a prayer for the people he describes as ‘East Indians’.
Gonnie has never
before been outside the US and he is not sure what questions he will
face once he reaches the ashram.
But he is prepared for queries about the everyday life styles of Indian
Americans, the food they eat and how they pray.
“From
their point of view, when people say Indians or Native Americans, immediately
their mind goes through where there’s a teepee.Everybody lives in
a teepee, everybody lives on the plain, everybody still wears feathers
in their hair and has horses,” he said be. fore leaving New Mexico.
Gonnie’s father,
Hosteen, was a Navajo healer, as are his brothers Larry, Dale, Nelson,
Gilbert and Leslie.
India
trip
Based on what
he was told by his father, Gibson told his local newspaper, the Gallup
Independent from New Mexico, that plans for his India trip began
many years ago.
What Gonnie
hopes to learn from Sai Baba is extremely practical. Seniors from the
Navajo tribe have told Deccan. Herald
how impressed they are by the way Sai Baba has set up a
network of medical and other institutions to help the wider community.
All this has
been achieved independently of the central authorities. If the
Navajo could duplicate some of these efforts for the benefit
of their own community in New Mexico, that would be a massive
achievement.
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