Appropriation

This was a difficult blog to write. I did so with honesty for whatever that’s worth.

Among the many guilt trips put on white men is the idea of appropriation. For the most part, this seems to be a one-way street which in of itself reveals it to be driven by shadow.

Appropriation has been a buzz word in the Mankind Project as men who have taken on shame for being white desperately try to relieve themselves of it by stripping anything from MKP that might be viewed as derived from the native peoples. Appropriation is often framed as a kind of oppression or a version of colonialism (because apparently there was no appropriation until Europeans thought it up).  It is a pejorative word meant to accuse another by its very use. Truly, our ancestors would think the modern world insane. For those that resist the message, it provides these men burdened by shame the additional benefit of projecting their shame on to others. We humans don’t like shame. We will rationalize ourselves to almost any corner of our deepest shadows to get rid of it, and in the driven need to see ourselves as “good people”, doing so in the guise of a virtuous pursuit (virtue-signaling) has become an ever-popular performative means.

Humans have borrowed culturally from one another since the beginning. It’s what humans do, and one of the reasons our species became so dominant.

European culture is appropriated all the time. My question is, so what? If the Lakota (Sioux) or any other tribe have a problem with it, why isn’t that their work?

Decades ago, Lakota elders supported creating a sweat lodge ritual for MKP (perhaps other rituals as well but the conversation usually focuses on the sweats). In the early years, a man might have been blessed by a Lakota elder during the weekend. From what I’ve heard, it was important that what the men of MKP did related to Lakata traditions be done with respect (this is after an initial period, during the earliest years, where such care was not given). The ritual used within the sweat was designed by MKP brothers with the oversight of Chief Mel Lonehill with the intention to be respectful of their traditions and to not mimic them either (a Lakota would not confuse an MKP sweat as one of their own). Over the years, based on comments from elder MKP brothers, hundreds of indigenous men and women have communicated to men in MKP that the appropriate sharing of their culture is standard practice for them. But for certain MKP leaders, even the sweat itself, absent any Lakota influence, was still appropriation.

I’m curious if any of these men smoke, because, well, tobacco in this kind of worldview was appropriated. I’m very sure a long list could be developed.   

Right before the pandemic, an organization (SPIRIT) registered objection to including an indigenous ceremony in the NWTA in the name of “cultural appropriation.” After some discussion, the ceremony was withdrawn from the NWTA, with concerns for cultural appropriation listed as the primary reason. In conversations, I also heard the threat of lawsuits mentioned numerous times though the MKP lodge brothers that conducted the sweats continue to do so and I’ve not heard of any lawsuits.

So what was accomplished? Did the Lakota or the greater Sioux nation (SPIRIT is Sioux which might include members beyond the Lakota, one of the Sioux tribes) feel empowered or the happier for it? There was a loss in that men working on their life path were no longer exposed to it. The sharing of culture done in a respectful way was lost. There were feelings of anger between MKP brothers creating wounds that have yet to heal. Were there any winners? There was separation between MKP and the Lakota and between MKP brothers many of whom felt driven from the Project. It seems to me, everyone lost. Which is a common outcome in the game of shame-pushing.

The idea that being inspired by another culture translates into appropriation strikes me as odd. Clearly, it’s not a reaction among all Lakota but a faction within the tribe. Why should this faction be bothered? Where is the harm? Deep down, what’s really going on? Perhaps it’s anger about white settlers. Perhaps a white man stirred up drama with the Lakota faction, riling them up, to relieve himself of shame. I understand reasons for anger—people around the world get upset about immigration. There are not many in the world that are welcoming to strangers, and if they are at first, attitudes quickly change when a people’s home becomes homes for others—leaving them foreigners in what was once their land. I respect the anger. Did driving out tribal rituals in MKP do anything to heal that wound (to cure the anger)? Do the MKP brothers driven by white-guilt feel better about themselves? I’m honestly curious if anyone walked away feeling better.

If someone says, well, there are those of the Lakota (Sioux Nation) that have negative feelings about it and those feelings would have been aggravated had MKP not acceded to the demands of SPIRIT. Possibly, and those Lakota (Sioux) are choosing those feelings. Why? Is it old anger that they think serves them in some way. And when is that ever true? Often, such anger is nothing more than a protective shield to avoid looking in the mirror (I’m saying this from personal experience).

And why target a cash-poor organization wanting to help men heal and advance in their life’s journey? MKP is a convenient target because so many within the organization are driven by white (and male) guilt. Which also causes me to wonder whether the targeting was engineered by someone from within the organization. I am making no accusation because I don’t know—but I am curious about how the drama was created.

Avatar rips off native culture to the tune of billions in profits. Where is the concern? The appropriation of native culture is embedded throughout American culture. Where are the complaints? Where are the lawsuits? The protests? Is this something that is a concern among the tribes or is it a shadow from just a few? I’m not sure, but the latter seems more plausible.

My family hails from Oklahoma. My great grandfather was Cherokee (or Choctaw; I grew up being told Cherokee but a cousin did some research that indicated Choctaw). My grandmother was a “card carrying Indian”. I have cousins, aunts and uncles who are as well. Somewhere there is an early-photography picture of my great great grandmother who looks like she just moved from the Mongolian steppes.

The only reason I am not on the tribal registry is because the family decided at the time, when it was set up, not to—there may have been a stigma to it—the registry marked you as not white--my grandmother never talked about it.

There is a natural blending of culture that for me is common and natural. My grandmother was fiercely proud of her native heritage. So I perhaps have a different perspective because I grew up with the idea of natives and whites comingling in blood and in culture. I have asked people in my extended family about the use of native ritual in MKP (those that identify as of the tribes), and none of them understand the controversy (as long as it was done with respect and not mockery). Though I have an uncle who said the northern tribes tended to be more difficult without elaborating on what he meant by that (his lips flatlined as he said it!).

So I’m back to, why do many in MKP care what some of the Lakota (Sioux) think? Is it driven by a need to appear “enlightened”?  Is this nothing more than an exchange of shame?

Here’s another thing—the north American tribes, Europeans, Iranians, the peoples of northern India, Mongolians, and Turks --- we all came from the steppes. We are ancient brothers.

For me it’s a cool and awesome thing to experience that shared brotherhood. It could be my tribal blood, but when in my brother dance, after a sweat, with over 200 hundred naked men swirling in a room lit by candle fire, the deep drumming and smoke, I felt a euphoric connection that seemed to stretch back tens of thousands of years. It was a moment of authentic magic. As if I was dancing with my ancestors for precious moments and with brothers whose descendants have spread across the world.

Disclosure: During my weekend, I skipped the sweat, though I had participated at other times, for reasons of lack of sleep. But despite that, I benefited as many brothers came to the weekend for the sweat and then to join the brother dance. The combination of sweat and dance was powerful, a lure to draw brothers back, and without the sweat the power of the dance has faded to something that I see as “hokey”.

I care deeply about honesty, respect, fairness, and authenticity. I do not see any of these values in play with the stripping of native practices and rituals from MKP. On the other hand, with inclusion, I see opportunities for respect and for authenticity and perhaps some honest conversation about the consequences of European and then global migration into the lands of the tribes. For below the anger, there is grief as well at what was lost.

But in the dancing with my brothers to fire, smoke, and drumming, I see that as a beautiful moment. Something to honor—to cherish—and in no way, a reason to take on shame.