Spiritual domain: Native American religious rights

[Zagadka]

This debate will be taken from this document: Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality

For use in this piece, “Native America” refers to the greater territories of America, Canada, and northern Mexico.

A brief overview on Native American religion. Practiced since the dawn of history, Native American spirituality is usually more a way of life than a religion as it is known in Western terms. Generally centered on a Creator-god and various natural spirits, these religions focus on communing with nature - specifically, agricultural concerns and hunting concerns, depending on the structure and area of the tribe. For instance, some believe that the Earth was once densely populated, and the Creator turned most people into animals, hence the regard for their spirits. And so it was for tens of thousands of years. With the coming of Europeans (and I will skip over much of this), the Natives who did not die were often forcibly inducted into Christianity. As a result, many modern Native American rituals contain a mixture of tradition and Christian elements. Today, a goodly number of Native Americans are Christian or Christian-Native hybrids, with a minority practicing traditional religion. More recently, with the advancement of the New Age, neopaganism, and other movements, popular culture has been absorbing many rites and traditions of Native Americans.

In summary, this document outlines various perceived injustices by the Lakotas, including but not limited to:

WHEREAS for too long we have suffered the unspeakable indignity of having our most precious Lakota ceremonies and spiritual practices desecrated, mocked and abused by non-Indian “wannabes,” hucksters, cultists, commercial profiteers and self-styled “New Age shamans” and their followers; and

…

WHEREAS pseudo-religious corporations have been formed to charge people money for admission into phony “sweatlodges” and “vision quest” programs; and

…

WHEREAS non-Indian charlatans and “wannabes” are selling books that promote the systematic colonization of our Lakota spirituality; and

…

WHEREAS individuals and groups involved in “the New Age Movement,” in “the men’s movement,” in “neo-paganism” cults and in “shamanism” workshops all have exploited the spiritual traditions of our Lakota people by imitating our ceremonial ways and by mixing such imitation rituals with non-Indian occult practices in an offensive and harmful pseudo-religious hodgepodge; and

WHEREAS the absurd public posturing of this scandalous assortment of psuedo-Indian charlatans, “wannabes,” commercial profiteers, cultists and “New Age shamans” comprises a momentous obstacle in the struggle of traditional Lakota people for an adequate public appraisal of the legitimate political, legal and spiritual needs of real Lakota people; and

…

THEREFORE WE RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

1. We hereby and henceforth declare war against all persons who persist in exploiting, abusing and misrepresenting the sacred traditions and spiritual practices of our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.

I’ve had this document on my mind for some time. As a “neopagan,” I have studied various Native American rituals, thought because of these reservations I have refrained from practicing any. I have some Native American blood in me, but not nearly enough to justify this in their eyes.

However, this does not mean I do not question the document.

On one side: Spirituality is a vital part of culture and daily life to Native Americans. It is the one thing that the settlers were unable to take away in their process of decimating the populations, and one of the few ties Native Americans have with their ancient cultures, traditions, and ancestors. As any religious entity, they retain a certain control over how their religion is used, and may rightly decry ill use. The modern white practitioners of these sacred rituals are bastardizing the religion in the interest of profit and personal gain. Those who do not truly know how to practice the traditions have no right to cherrypick and maul the sacred ritual.

On the other side: This is blatant racism. Religious practice can not be restricted to peoples of one race in our country/countries. A spiritual belief and religion is not owned by any entity - you may disagree with how people use it, but religion is in the public domain. Every person has a right to practice any of the rituals they choose - in fact, the proliferation of this practice is one of the best chances to preserve the traditional ceremony and educate the public to the ancient cultures. Every religion faces charlatans and perversions, even the branches of Christianity, which is daily misrepresented through popular television and movies.

So there are two sides of the coin that I see. I’m sure you Dopers will have other viewpoints.

[John_Mace]

It all depends on what the “war” encompasses. If it’s a war of words, a war of education, I’m all for it. If it’s a war of physically attacking the “wannabes” or of legislating against them, then count me out.

And, BTW, there is nothing any more sacred about Native American religion that isn’t true of any other religion. There is no evidence that their religions are any older than any other religions. Christianity was adopted by civilized folk, but there is no reason not to believe it doesn’t have roots as ancient as Native American religions. You seem to be ascribing some mystic, historical attributes to Native American religions.

[BrainGlutton]

How disappointing . . . based on the title, I was hoping this thread would have something to do with peyote . . .

[Zagadka]

@John Mace

It all depends on what the “war” encompasses. If it’s a war of words, a war of education, I’m all for it. If it’s a war of physically attacking the “wannabes” or of legislating against them, then count me out.

I believe it is only a war of words and participation. They say “active and vocal” in the document - I don’t presume that involves a tomahawk to the head.

And, BTW, there is nothing any more sacred about Native American religion that isn’t true of any other religion. There is no evidence that their religions are any older than any other religions. Christianity was adopted by civilized folk, but there is no reason not to believe it doesn’t have roots as ancient as Native American religions. You seem to be ascribing some mystic, historical attributes to Native American religions.

Did I say there was? I believe I mentioned something like that in the “pro” statement, but that was simply rhetoric emphasizing the point of view. When you’re trying to make a point, you rarely do it by equalizing your own problem with the rest of the world. However, I think the Native Americans have suffered a unique assault on culture, life, and religion already, having all three decimated willfully over several hundred years. That may be a source of it.

Another source may be that Native American religions are one of the few pagan belief structures that survived “untouched” until the modern era, and remains practiced in true form (or as close to it as possible). That does give it a somewhat special position, in that other modern pagan traditions have died and been brought back artificially (Hellenic and Celtic), or created wholesale (Wicca). As such, various New Age people who think that the true spiritual experience is the most primative and least “contaminated” by Christianity hold it in a special place. In many ways, it would be akin to a bunch of neo-Nazi Germans practicing a perversion of Hasidic Jewish rituals in English for a fee.

[BrainGlutton]

@Zagadka

In many ways, it would be akin to a bunch of neo-Nazi Germans practicing a perversion of Hasidic Jewish rituals in English for a fee.

But if neo-Nazi Germans wanted to practice a perversion of Hasidic Jewish rituals for a fee, that would be their right.

[John_Mace]

@Zagadka

IDid I say there was? I believe I mentioned something like that in the “pro” statement, but that was simply rhetoric emphasizing the point of view.

I was referrring to this, which was not part of your “pro” argument, but in the main text of the OP (my bolding):

Practiced since the dawn of history, Native American spirituality is usually more a way of life than a religion as it is known in Western terms. Generally centered on a Creator-god and various natural spirits, these religions focus on communing with nature - specifically, agricultural concerns and hunting concerns, depending on the structure and area of the tribe. For instance, some believe that the Earth was once densely populated, and the Creator turned most people into animals, hence the regard for their spirits. And so it was for tens of thousands of years.

Maybe I’m reading something into this, but you seem to be implying that the age of these religious practices are unique, or at least remarkable in some way. Firstly, there is no evidence that the religious traditions stratch back, unbroken, for tens of thousands of years. Secondly, even if they do, so what? Most, if not all, religions probably do, too.

However, I think the Native Americans have suffered a unique assault on culture, life, and religion already, having all three decimated willfully over several hundred years. That may be a source of it.

It only stands out because it is fairly well documented. Again, I don’t see this as unique to AmerIndians. Think of all the relgions in Europe that were whiped out when Christianity became the norm, just to name one example. I’m sure that every empire did the same thing.

Let me say, though, that I am very sympathetic to the history of Native Americans. Their history and culture have been one of my strong interests since I was a kid. But I think you are romanticising one set of cultures out of hundreds that are in decline.

Another source may be that Native American religions are one of the few pagan belief structures that survived “untouched” until the modern era, and remains practiced in true form (or as close to it as possible). That does give it a somewhat special position, in that other modern pagan traditions have died and been brought back artificially (Hellenic and Celtic), or created wholesale (Wicca). As such, various New Age people who think that the true spiritual experience is the most primative and least “contaminated” by Christianity hold it in a special place. In many ways, it would be akin to a bunch of neo-Nazi Germans practicing a perversion of Hasidic Jewish rituals in English for a fee.

Well, we have Australian Aborigainal religions, the dozens of isolated tribes in New Guinea, not to mention the countelss pagan religions still practiced in Africa. I don’t mean to be snarky, but you appear to have a very American-centric view of the world.

[Zagadka]

@John Mace

Maybe I’m reading something into this, but you seem to be implying that the age of these religious practices are unique, or at least remarkable in some way. Firstly, there is no evidence that the religious traditions stratch back, unbroken, for tens of thousands of years. Secondly, even if they do, so what? Most, if not all, religions probably do, too.

Well, I was speaking of the religions as a group. Logic does dictate that they stretch back further, but my implication was that they went back to the beginning of history, not time. History, by definition, would be the first known knowledge, which is indeed the case.

It only stands out because it is fairly well documented. Again, I don’t see this as unique to AmerIndians. Think of all the relgions in Europe that were whiped out when Christianity became the norm, just to name one example. I’m sure that every empire did the same thing.

I wouldn’t consider what happened to the Native Americans the same thing that happened to, say, the Germanic pagans. The Native Americans suffered a systematic attack on their very culture; the Germanic pagans were slowly absorbed, and retained a good number of their traditions, as did the Celtic and Normans. I think that does make it rather unique - and yes, the fact that it is well documented does make it more important, from a viewpoint of understanding how it works. We’re talking about religious ritual here; you have to be pretty precise. The neopagan groups that base their beliefs off of Germanic/Norse, Hellenic, Celtic, Norman, and other European pagan religions are largely operating off of educated guesswork.

Well, we have Australian Aborigainal religions, the dozens of isolated tribes in New Guinea, not to mention the countelss pagan religions still practiced in Africa. I don’t mean to be snarky, but you appear to have a very American-centric view of the world.

That is an interesting point that I didn’t consider. Maybe it is right. However, I think the real reason the New Age movement focuses on Native American religions is not because they are American, but because (in addition to being well documented, as mentioned above) they meet the same basic principles of the movements; namely, a closeness with nature, a concept of balance, and working with spirits.

While I’m sure many aboriginal and African share many values with neopaganism, they have not the documentation, public spotlight, New Age outlook, and other features that make the Native American religions ripe for the picking.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

Adopting aspects of a religion or cultural do not equate to an “attack” on that religion or that culture.

Educating the public about what is or is not authentic is one thing, but they have no right to prevent other people from adopting certain beliefs or practices, charging for them or even mocking them. They have a right not have their own beliefs and practices infringed on and that’s it.

If I want to hold my own mass and serve Poptarts as communion wafers. that is my right. I can even charge for those services. Nobody has a copyright on religious beliefs or practices, and nobody has a right to prevent anyone else from commenting, criticizing or mocking those beliefs.

I don’t see that any Lakota rights are being violated or that Native Americans are being victimized by having some of their traditions absorbed into the larger culture. That’s how culture always works.

[Odesio]

Yeah, who’s rights are being violated?

Marc