Offensive Wannabe of the Day
Ok, so this was originally a post about a man who made a video documenting a Native American Hunting Dance. I had a video of him performing a dance he did to bring back the caribou. Since then he has written to me, and I will openly admit I misjudged his intent. I apologized to him, and out of fairness decided to remove the video from this post. It doesn't change how I feel about our native culture, though. This post wasn't necessarily about him, but the whole wannabe thing.
I'm still torn about the issue and haven't decided if it's helpful or harmful. I've been scolded by my elders a few times in my life for not accepting "suyapis" when they come to our ceremonial dances. "They need to pray too," they tell me. I guess that's true enough, and besides, I think it works in our favor when we can "conquer by culture." But the thing that really gets to me is WHY OH WHY do they always take what little they might have learned from us and then go off and make up their own songs and ceremonies? At that point you have to ask are they really trying to just pray for themselves? And is it really worth it to "let" them in on our private ceremonies and teachings? How long do we have to compromise our customs & ceremonies in the name of letting our fellow man pray with us? Geez, can't we just hand these people a bible and send them on their way?
I'm still torn about the issue and haven't decided if it's helpful or harmful. I've been scolded by my elders a few times in my life for not accepting "suyapis" when they come to our ceremonial dances. "They need to pray too," they tell me. I guess that's true enough, and besides, I think it works in our favor when we can "conquer by culture." But the thing that really gets to me is WHY OH WHY do they always take what little they might have learned from us and then go off and make up their own songs and ceremonies? At that point you have to ask are they really trying to just pray for themselves? And is it really worth it to "let" them in on our private ceremonies and teachings? How long do we have to compromise our customs & ceremonies in the name of letting our fellow man pray with us? Geez, can't we just hand these people a bible and send them on their way?
posted by Rezilla | 9:24 AM
8 Comments:
I completely agree with you. Some of the things that annoy me about how our cultures are hijacked by them: (1) when they talk from a position of authority for us w/o our permission or knowledge with the smidgen of knowledge they gather and everyone just laps it all up; (2) they study our cultures and write about it in their slanted interpretation; and (3) they exploit what they learn from our elders. This list could go on. What annoys me too is when they're turned away, they get all wounded and express how discriminated against they feel. Crazy...
I have no suggestions on how to deal with them.
This is by far one of the toughest issues for me to come to terms with. For several years a certain wannabe group have been participating in some of our winter ceremonies. The families that hold these ceremonies are usually very strict, and you can't just change things to suit your own needs. The singers have special songs they sing that come to them in various ways. One year the wannabes came in and said they had a song. I guess they had a vision or dream or something, I don't exactly know how they got a song but they did. Anyways, they were told they could sing it in their own lodge, but not in ours. I guess that was fair enough. They were still allowed to dance, but they weren't allowed to change our ceremony. I imagine they went home that year and built their own lodge so they can hold their own ceremonies.
That is upsetting. Can the tribe prevent further activities such as this? I wonder...
Living in both worlds, I agree to a point. However, white people are so empty with no history or true religion and I believe they are looking for answers to their inner demons. And on the other hand, I too, have seen the wannabe do exactly as you claim. They have no idea of what they have been privileged to see and hear so go off with a half cocked idea of a know it all. I argue a great deal over native religion and of course, all white people think all natives have but one religion for everyone. They don't have a concept of song or dance or pride or history or even how natives feel about their veterans that have always fought whites wars. You will beat yourself to death trying to figure it out so just sit back and know these people are "slow" mentally and empty of soul. I now find them amusing as if I have a secret and they are showing their stupidity to all that see them. We know all tribes are different, have different government agreements (called "treaties), have different customs, different crafts, etc. Sure it is frustrating when you try to "inform" these idiots but truly, you are wasting your breath and time. Some people are genuine and want to learn but how do you learn what has been in a natives soul for centuries. So, just look for these kind people and educate them as best you can. They used to come into my father in laws business and ask him where the Indians were. He was pure native and he'd just smile and send them down the road to his friend in full regailia with a teepee that charged for pictures and everyone was happy. They had no idea my father in law was almost full blood and lived on his rez almost all of his life. He found it all amusing but he was always smiling and friendly and when they left, he just let out a big belly laugh.
Hey rezillaaaaaa...
I kinda been interested in Natives for the longest time coz the woman are brown, beautiful and generally speaking FUKKEN BEAUTIFUL...
but yeah... as I'm British, before I had a mild feeling of irritation at wannabes thieving natives culture but thought that tolerance is a good thing, n all that crap about imitation is the highest form of flattery.
But since I've had my babies on a rez, my attitudes have come somewhat harsher and I get offended a bit when I see people misinterpreting my children's culture and traditions. It's all about respect I guess - some people have it, some people don't. For instance, I dearly want my son and daughter to dance at the rez's next powwow, but they're afraid to go up on their own and I just don't feel it's my place going up so I try to get someone else to help me.
Sandyv kind've hit it on the head... in comparison to most ndn culture n traditions, major caucasian cultures all over the world are kind've lacking.
There isn't nothing you can do. Getting offended, outraged and riled up will make them listen for a while, and then go to a different powwow, or hit a different website. Only thing you can do is just remember no matter how much they imitate they'll never be native.
Wannabe's take who we are and our values and try to incorporate them into their own world. I don't believe anyone should steal the ways of life from us. They don't understand, never will and worst, don't want to. It is all about the romanticism. If they knew the real truths behind our ceremony's and if they had any sense of dignity, they would leave us alone and admire from afar.
Night Sky Watcher
I don't think you can categorize all white people into being a bunch of religion stealing idiots- needless to say that there are quite a few out there. But after reading some of these comments I think it's ridiculous how some people are so ignorant and just plain stupid, with all this name calling crap. I admit i have never been to a powwow or lived on a rez, so i don't know how annoying this issue can get, but common people can't we have a little bit more sense when talking about such a delicate issue?
-mixed blood girl
It doesn't bother me so much when the wannabe culture attends our pow-wows, after all, they are social events that are open to the public. However, when they show up to our private ceremonies I have a hard time accepting it, especially when they pretend to hold spiritual powers and songs. I find it dishonest and I'm just not into that.
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