Native American Cultural Appropriation
Although their history is left out of this post, it’s important to note that indigenous people of Mexico are very much included when speaking of the native community.
For some people, native culture is a concept or a history lesson, but native people are more than what a lot of us have been taught in school. For a little background, I am indigenous on my father’s side. We are from Lummi Nation in Coast Salish territory and, despite living on my ancestral land nearly my whole life, I didn’t get the chance to truly begin connecting to my culture until I was an adult. I began educating myself on indigenous and American history in 2020 as a way to connect to my ancestral roots and figured it would be worth sharing what I’ve learned during this time and how that’s shaped my opinion of nonnative people’s use of indigenous practices + medicines. The fascination around native traditions and practices is understandable. I believe it’s ultimately rooted in people’s yearning for their own traditions and practices that have been lost in the midst of colonization and settler culture, especially for those who are seeking to escape the cultural practices created by those who were led by greed and racism. While people may have the best intentions, trying to borrow from a culture that has already been all but destroyed is still a form of colonization and even if you intend to be respectful, there is nothing respectful about cherry picking through the ruins of the genocide committed against first nations people. There is a long list of ways you can support and show respect and gratitude towards native people in Canada and the United States and not one of them involves you participating in sacred traditions and medicines like smudging and the use of white sage. Outside of the fact that the popularization of smudging and white sage has caused immense damage to protected sage fields by poachers to keep up with the demand, most of my reasoning for leaving native practices for native people lies in the very grim history these two countries share.
A SHORT HISTORY RECAP
TRIGGER WARNING: GENOCIDE/RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS/ABUSE MENTIONED
It’s no secret that Canada and the United States have a gruesome history with the native people here. While some may believe that the violence between them ended when treaties were signed, that was actually the beginning of a whole new battle in the very much ongoing war against native genocide. Considering the violence between settlers and the indigenous people, tribal leaders often had no choice but to sign treaties due to the threat their people and way of life, and the government used that to their advantage.
In article 14 of the Treaty of Point Elliot 1855, my tribes treaty with the United States government, it states there will be a school provided by the government. What they didn’t say is that those schools would be ran by church members who would then strip the children of their cultural identity and beat, abuse, and kill them (not to mention how many were lost to sickness and disease) in order to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”
Here’s what the Tulalip tribe has to say about the residential school my ancestors attended:
“School officials would take the children from their parents, and they would live at the school except during the summer when they returned home. The children missed their families and could be heard crying after the lights were out. In addition, at that time, U.S. policy stated that Native American students were to stop using their language and practicing their culture and religion and to learn English, American culture and Christianity. ” Read More
In 1883, the US government passed a body of legislation called the Code of Indian Offenses, that criminalized native dances, ceremonies and medicinal/spiritual practices, including the use of white sage. This was intended to assimilate indigenous people into settler culture/religion and the reason why indigenous children would have their traditional clothing taken, their long hair cut, and their language banned from use when arriving to residential schools. They would often face harsh punishments, including death, if they didn’t comply. Learn more about U.S. residential school findings here.
As if residential schools weren’t enough, in the late 1950’s, the BIA partnered with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) to create a federal program called the Indian Adoption Project. This program was created to place indigenous children with white, Christian families to further detribalize them and assimilate them into settler culture. It wasn’t until 1978, when the Religious Freedom Act and the Indian Child Welfare (ICWA) act were passed, that indigenous people would have the rights to protect their children and practice their traditions freely. Despite the mark the IAP and residential schools have left on the survivors and their families, the constitutionality of ICWA has recently been questioned in a case brought to the Supreme Court. Even though they have deemed ICWA constitutional, children are still being withheld from their native family members in homes that have no regard for the child’s culture.
The effects of older tactics used to commit genocide against these native tribes still affect current generations today on top of current tactics used to disconnect our children from their culture, attack our families and resources, and to deny native sovereignty. Intergenerational trauma, mental health issues, and drug/alcohol abuse among the indigenous community is a direct consequence of the attacks brought on by the government. A lot of tribes are still fighting for access to basic needs like clean water and affordable food. Studies have shown that indigenous women, girls, and two-spirits are murdered and experience violent crimes against them at a higher rate than the national average, with murder being their third leading cause of death. Despite Mexican people having indigenous ties to the land, they are often labeled as “aliens” and treated as criminals; having their families torn apart over man-made lines and put into inhumane holding facilities. While fighting against all of that and much more, native people are also leading the battle against global warming; putting themselves in harms way to protect the planet for all of us. There’s no reason native people should have to fight for equal rights and respect while also watching people not only appropriate but profit off of a culture that our ancestors were criminalized and killed over.
PROTECTING INDIGENOUS PRACTICES
The native traditions, practices, and medicines are a symbol of sacred resilience. While it’s my personal opinion that native practices should be left for native people, if you have the honor to be invited in to experience native practices first hand, understand this is an honor not a right and should be approached with the upmost respect. You are not entitled to participating in any native practices, especially smudging (which is a closed practice) or using any of the sacred medicines. If you are going to use things like dreamcatchers, ensure it’s from a native source and take the time to learn the history behind it. You could go a step further and continue educating yourself on the history of indigenous people so you can help take the burden off of the native people trying to educate people on the history by educating your friends, family, and peers yourself. While you may want to learn from the source, it’s important to remember that it’s not native peoples job to dig up their own cultural/familial trauma to educate you on something you can find through a simple search online. There are so many other options that can support your spiritual growth that there’s no reason to have to appropriate someone’s culture to do it; you just need to care enough about those communities to look elsewhere for them.
