From: hoosiers@carson.u.washington.edu (Mary Loveless)
Subject: Re: Cultural Appropriation and the New Age
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 16:58:18 GMT

In article <!ys20-r@rpi.edu> kasprj@rpi.edu writes:
>In article <1h69a2INNjqr@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU>, irwinke@storm.CS.ORST.EDU (Keith Irwin) writes:
>|> 
>|> I'd like to know what people think about New Agers (ie, Europeans and
>|> Euroamericans) appropriating the spirituality of various indiginous and
>|> small scale cultures.

I suspect that the question refers, in part, to practitioners of New Age
spirituality deciding that they were Native American princesses or shamans
in a past life and setting up to make themselves a lot of money using
Native American rituals and artifacts as a glitzy scam.  

The writer Lynn Andrews has come under a lot of criticism for some version
of this.  If I understand the critics correctly, the co-option happens on
all levels, from the high powered and highly visible money-makers such as
Andrews down to the W.A.S.P. followers of the shaman, Sun Bear (a genuine
article, as far as I know) who show up at reservation long houses, wanting
to be admitted as genuine tribal members.  There is also some resentment
of Indianwannabees with big bucks who study tribal practices and costumes
and show up at pow-wows to tell folks how it should be. 

The poet Chrystos, a Native American, has some pointed comments about all
this; Gail Tremblay, a poet and artist on the faculty of Evergreen State
College in Washington state and a Mohawk tribal member, speaks more
gently.  Spider Woman Theater, a Native American troupe, addresses the
various issues with great humor and zest. 

In answer to the issue of, "well the natives convert to Christianity, so
why shouldn't we...." Yes, this does indeed happen, in most part because
of the vigorous mission programs instituted by most Christian
denominations.  This process of conversion, in many cases, also involved
an attempt to wipe out native cultural practices, including spiritual
practices, in the belief that the missionary's beliefs were the only
possible ones to follow.  

In many cases, the missions were part of a massive military and economic
takeover (see books on the American Southwest) in which the natives were
used as conscripted labor on the invaders' projects.  In some cases whole
populations were starved, worked and beaten to death as they were being
converted to Christianity.  In the United States, those tribes who have
retained their identity and spirituality are in most cases quite clear
that they do *not* have a tradition of conversion.  You don't learn a
catechism and make certain promises to become one of them, according to my
informants.  To these tribal members, the New Age religion's enthusiasm
represents another invasion, an assault on the last treasures of
impoverished and beleagured Nations. 

Mary Loveless  hoosiers@carson.u.washington.edu
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All of my opinions are self-righteously my own and **certainly** have
nothing to do with the University of Washington.

"I wonder how I'd look in *Madonna's* underwear."  Zippy the Pinhead
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