I don't really know anything about the Hopi so I am ignorant at best. I have quite a few native friends here in Canada and having strong ties to my own roots while I have enjoyed my experiences in sweat lodge and with the philosophy I feel it is more of a natural kinship between the druid and the native philosophies. I am someone who even hates the terms 'black' and 'white'. I hate when people call me 'white' because I'm not, I'm a mix of ethnicities and there is no 'white' race, there are many ethnicities with light skin and many with dark skin. Yet, most would probably just call me a white guy.
I bring this up because the issue of appropriation isn't one dimensional and doesn't affect only one person. As a Celt, I wonder if I should offended by the myriads of 'cool' Celtic knot tattoos or as a Hebrew and Germanic the much abused Tree of Life which are rooted in my cultural heritage. I even know natives who have studied and made used of ideas in Kabbalah alongside their traditional practices, so should I be offended by that?
I am just stringing these questions to illustrate the complexity of the issue in my mind. The ownership of knowledge is easy to talk about but it's not as easy to control in reality. However, the ownership of identity is even harder.
I agree with the refutation of frauds and people out to make a quick buck. However, I don't believe that it is always necessarily out of greed or malice but sometimes people really believe in the paths they are following.
Actually I've been following a lot of business happening around Stone Henge where they are trying to impose fees for parking and other things for gatherings while the local pagans are up in arms over the 'pay to pray' they see it as. It has been interesting to see the words thrown around such as 'Heretic', used by the pagans actually towards those trying to impose the fees.
So basically I want to point out that this is a problem for many traditional cultures and I think we all have to work together to achieve an equitable level of respect and responsibilities. It seems indigenous ways are threatened everywhere whether they are light skinned or dark.
In some ways I consider Natives fortunate to have such direct lineal access to their culture (although much has been disrupted and destroyed there are chains of elder which have preserved many important concepts) in many cases and so they can fight more strongly for it. The natural teachings of European cultures has much less of a continuous line so it is easy to disregard any ownership. I wish I had an elder or two with knowledge of the cultural traditions but they have been so diluted and corrupted that even most people in Ireland don't even know it's part of their history.
I bring this up because the issue of appropriation isn't one dimensional and doesn't affect only one person. As a Celt, I wonder if I should offended by the myriads of 'cool' Celtic knot tattoos or as a Hebrew and Germanic the much abused Tree of Life which are rooted in my cultural heritage. I even know natives who have studied and made used of ideas in Kabbalah alongside their traditional practices, so should I be offended by that?
I am just stringing these questions to illustrate the complexity of the issue in my mind. The ownership of knowledge is easy to talk about but it's not as easy to control in reality. However, the ownership of identity is even harder.
I agree with the refutation of frauds and people out to make a quick buck. However, I don't believe that it is always necessarily out of greed or malice but sometimes people really believe in the paths they are following.
Actually I've been following a lot of business happening around Stone Henge where they are trying to impose fees for parking and other things for gatherings while the local pagans are up in arms over the 'pay to pray' they see it as. It has been interesting to see the words thrown around such as 'Heretic', used by the pagans actually towards those trying to impose the fees.
So basically I want to point out that this is a problem for many traditional cultures and I think we all have to work together to achieve an equitable level of respect and responsibilities. It seems indigenous ways are threatened everywhere whether they are light skinned or dark.
In some ways I consider Natives fortunate to have such direct lineal access to their culture (although much has been disrupted and destroyed there are chains of elder which have preserved many important concepts) in many cases and so they can fight more strongly for it. The natural teachings of European cultures has much less of a continuous line so it is easy to disregard any ownership. I wish I had an elder or two with knowledge of the cultural traditions but they have been so diluted and corrupted that even most people in Ireland don't even know it's part of their history.
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