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Spiritual Genocide:
Some Activists' Responses

Edited by Mary Moore (Sept. 92)

The charge of "spiritual genocide" by indigenous people toward New Age misuse of their symbols and traditions has been a hard thing for many people in Sonoma county and elsewhere to hear. Here is a sampling of what the activists in the trenches had to say on the subject. It should be noted that prominent members of the "circle" community were asked to comment and declined to do so.

Mariah Jones, Santa Rosa: "You'll never begin to understand the gravity of spititual genocide by listening to those who make their living off native traditions and ceremonies. They are warring against Indian people! Instead, listen to what native americans are saying.This is called respect!

Lois Pearlman, Guernville: "When you take someone elses stuff and you pretend that it's your own, then its spiritual genocide. However above and below that line there are alot of things that are just tuning into the universe."

Tom Yeates, Jenner: "Sacred objects should not be sold. There are certain things that should never be on a table at a fair with a price tag on them."

Jane Flood, Sebastopol: "If one knows who she/he is one does not have to take on, borrow or exploit another's culture or identity."

Timothy Osmer, Cazadero: "Where is the line, in practice, where ones earth based beliefs infringe upon anothers? I look for more guidance from Native Americans on what is offensive to them and encourage non-natives to listen with open hearts and minds. We need to understand also that Christianity has been a handy tool/ally for the monied/oppressive class, used to aid in the enslavement of all peoples. The turn from institutionalized Christianity which so many of us have made to earth based spirituality has left a void, so leadership and guidance are needed. I ask Native Americans who have spiritual wisdom to please not shut the door on those who are seeking a path that seems so true and who can be allies working with you towards a just world. Certainly for European descendants to ask this of Native Americans--in light of our histories & relations--is asking alot. However, many of us come not as conquerors but as those who have been beaten by our own systems and ways, and are searching for a spiritual path which can aid us in restoring the balance that was so drasticly upset five hundred years ago."

Jane Hunnicutt, Sebastopol: "If this world is to survive, humans must live in peace at all levels; ecological, material and spiritual. The Elders teach Kthis with the Four Sacred Colors; these represent the Sacred Black People, the Sacred Yellow People, the Sacred Red People and the Sacred White People. Spiritual peace in action is freedom of religious practice. Many of us are multi-colored but each of us can pray alone toward world unity."

Mary Moore, Camp Meeker: "White people should just shut up and listen to what native people are telling us. For me it all boils down to respect for cultural diversity and beyond that honoring and celebrating this diversity. It's time to throw the melting pot myth out with the Columbus myth and replace it with an appreciation of all cultures and pride in ones own. We can all retain our own character, texture and flavor without appropriating someone elses. Granted, self love can be difficult for aware white folks but we also have a long tradition of activism and resistance to be proud of. For me working for justice is a spiritual path and one that I wish other white people would appropriate as their own."

Kwazi Nkrumah, Occidental: "Spiritual genocide needs to stop!"

Carol Miller, Cazadero: "We've taken everything from the indigenous people of this continent; their land, the game that sustained them, their families even. If they are asking that we respect their spiritual wisdom and that we not usurp their cultural art surely we can give this. Rutherford Loneman, an Arrapaho "roadman" who often came to Cazadero before his death in l988, taught us that a healer and spiritual guide NEVER CHARGES for his or her medicine. The respectful recipients of healing offer what they can of course, and they support those healers and teachers, rarely in the lap of luxury.".

Alexandra Hart:, Sebastopol: "Unfamiliar as I am to being on the "wrong" (un-PC} side of a controversy, I would like to comment that it seems most unfortunate that a great deal of energy is being expended creating bad feelings between peoples and communities that have every reason to support each other, and whose agendas on both sides include love and concern for our Great Mother, the Earth, and for spiritual freedom and authenticity, and for social justice. My belief is that if a sincere desire to understand one another and to make a spiritual and political connection were followed-say, in a council-that the concerns of the Native Americans toward our particular, small group might evaporate. If, however, we best serve as an easy mark for creating publicity, and a sincere wish for connection and peaceful resolution is not present, then haven't we already served our purpose? Further information on the feelings of our community on the subject may be found in the Earth Circles News, Summer issue, still on the stands until mid-September."

Yona Flemming, Santa Rosa: "I was asked to contribute to this feature and am glad to have the opportunity to do so. I found through much inner searching, that I was unable to come to any conclusions but would like to offer some thoughts that came up... The term "spiritual genocide" is confusing to me on one level because "genocide" has a specific meaning that makes no word sense when coupled with "spiritual". It is easy to surmise, however that it was born out of the agony of seeing and experiencing the dying of a people and a culture. Is it addressing government actions, individual actions, dominant cultural actions or all of the above? I am not sure. Genocide means the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group. Genocide has been and continues to be practiced against Native Americans by our government through murder, forced removal from ancestral and sacred lands, removing children from parents, outlawing Native languages, outlawing certain religious ubstances and ceremonies. There are other forces at work in our culture that threaten Native American cultures namely commercialization, romantization and exploitation of their beliefs, symbols and ceremonies. Even though these forces are detrimental to Indian cultures and to those who may be misled, the motives for these actions are varied and are not genocidal. I believe that spirit cannot be killed, stolen or compromised in any way. People of Spirit can and do hold righteous anger but they do not hold hatred and will not harm another or themselves. They do only good in the ame of Spirit.

Edy Sallee, Guerneville: "Such a multi-faceted issue – I am clear only that those persons NOT born of a particular spiritual tradition do not have the right to sell or market that tradition for personal profit. However, when persons born of a spiritual tradition wish to sell that tradition for personal profit, I do not believe I may sit in judgement of their decision, although I do not care for it personally. Aditionally, many persons born outside a spiritual tradition may not wish to exploit this tradition but instead value the traditional wisdom with reverence. I continue to question whether such persons should have access to the tradition. In such hands the tradition may be misused-or-perhaps it may change attitudes and reverse the destruction and oppression currently engaged in by the dominant culture. Being born into and oppressed by a white anglo-saxon male-dominated christian tradition complete with the protestant work ethic of greed and destruction, I have had to search elsewhere for higher values. Had I not deserted the traditions of my bio-culture long ago, I could not live with myself today.

As a Lesbian I have looked to the works of Paula Gunn Allen, Laguna-Sioux writer and poet, to learn of the Manly Hearted Women and shamanic Lesbians whose social position and traditional powers within their tribes were suppressed by white colonization. It is with these Lesbians I have a strong bond of shared culture and oppression. Anthropologist Arthur Evans has even suggested that the white christian repulsion of "Gay" tribal behavior was the underlying rationale for harsh and genocideal methods historically employed against many Native American tribes.

Yes, I have begged, borrowed and stolen from the religions, traditions, philosophies, spiritalities, values and teachings of as many sources of intelligence throughout the world to which I could gain access. I have mixed and matched, selected and rejected from this vast and varied pool in order to obtain the principles by which I can live. Of those philosophies and traditions that I admire I would like to be considered a friend, supporter and ally. I only ask that I not be required to adopt the traditon of greed, oppression and destruction of my ancestors."

Annie Haught, Petaluma: "What it's all about is lack of respect for Indian people. There are sacred ceremonies specific to the different Indian Nations, and it is their absolute right to decide for themselves whether or not to share them. Even when ceremonies have been shared with non-Indians, some of these same people have turned around and used them, with little understanding of their power and meaning, to make a buck. Just because a person has been invited to a "sweat", or has spent some time in the company of an Elder, doesn't give them the training, background, or even the right to call themselves a "teacher" of "medicine ways".

To charge money for sacred ceremonies compounds the insult; a true medicine person does NOT charge for their ceremonies. My concern is that fakes like Bird Brother, Sedonia and Lynn Andrews (yes, she did make it up) will come to define Indian Spirituality with their distortions. Spirituality is the basis of indigenous culture, and if it is distorted or misrepresented by charlatans, what little Indian people have left of their culture will be destroyed altogether. Destruction of a cultus re, by definition, is genocide".

Anita Arcieri, Healdsburg: "Genocide is, the systematic annihilation of a people. In this United States society genocide has long been a method employed by the power structure to control, by elimination, the very viability of life in certain communities. Speaking about my own race, I know in the African American community, here in the United States, genocide takes the form of sterilization of women-curtailing the viability of reproduction; genocide takes the form of education-education was in fact against the law for African Americans, and today we see continued examples of how the power structure attacks this community through withholding education when we witnessed the collapse of the Richmond, Ca., school district. We see the attack against African Americans when we witness the California State University Bsystem raising tuitions which will prohibit many hungry and eager individuals from obtaining "higher" education. We see the attack against African Americans to Anglo Americans, when we read of neonatal death rates in the African American populations that climb alarminly above any other statistically noted population in the United States. We experience the cold grip of genocide when we hear young African American men proclaim their fear of not living to reach their 25th birthday, or, when we read newspapers that say African American men are an endangered species! Genocide in the United States attacks African Americans on every societal level from reproduction rights of women, to access to health care of the family, to education, to legal rights. And, of course, these categories have ramifications that ripple out into every facet of life. Just looking superficially at education and seeing how the lack of education can be a tool of genocidal behavior, we see how many of us become "at risk". At risk of losing our lives.

Yet we continue to live because our spiritual beliefs have held our race together. Our prayers, songs, rituals, traditons give us strength. These values, these mores are the external expression of our internal selves, essential soul. Surviving institutionalized genocide, all we are left with that cannot be abused (because it is a refuge) is our essential soul, and the expression of our essential soul. Spiritual genocide is the blatant disregard of our values, prayers, traditions, and rituals. When one person thinks they can take a part of your soul away from you, they are attempting to drain you of your life force. In the United States, you can be denied health care, education, legal protection, reproductive rights, food, shelter-all the external needs, but when someone reaches in and tries to grab your soul and commodify it-sell it-interpret it-this is not right. When they take your soul away, when they take your essential expression away from you, they have killed you.

I often wonder as I walk through life's streets and see people wearing the clothes, the jewelry, eating the food of other ethnic peoples, if these gestures will ever be more than symbolic acts lacking substance. You wear the clothes of my people and think that you are close to me, still I wait for the personal invitation to be your friend. You eat the food of my people and think you understand me, and yet, and still we have not broken bread together. You surround yourself with the designs of my life, again, yet still I am nowhere in your life. You want my essence but you do not want me. This is spiritual genocide. When my essential qualities are paraded, promoted, packaged, purchased, while I am left depleted, devalued, deflated-my extinction looms all too clearly before me. This is spiritual genocide. Think before you invest in this activity."

Juan Corazon & Valentina de la Suna, Sebastopol: "This consumer society not only consumes material things-it also consumees cultures in the absence of culture. There are people and groups who seek to walk the red path in search of cultural enrighment and spiritual enlightment at the expense of Indigenous cultures-they are non-Indians masquerading as Indian healers and Spiritual Guides who sell sacred objects and traditonal herbs and charge fees for conducting sacred or phony Indian ceremonies. Sacred rites of Indigenous tribes are performed sacralegiously for a naive and eager public seeking enlightenment but in reality-merely getting their wallets lightened. "Pipe ceremonies, sweatlodge ceremonies and vision quests, along with adoption ceremony, are in demand by a New Age generation".

Some, so-called, healers may in fact have been taught by medicine people. This does not give them the go ahead to be a teacher themselves or the right to claim to be medicine people. And, unfortunately, non-Indians aren't the only ones out there peddling spiritual teachings.

Why are some Indian people selling the spirit? Because they say they "had a vision" and they are sharing the knowledge. Sharing? Well maybe, but in most cases all they are doing is selling. These people suddenly become 'Spiritual Leaders' or a 'Medicine Person' overnight, yeah right! I think non-Indians who are seeking guidance aften mistakenly believe that every Native Indian person they meet has some special connection to "The Creator" and is all knowing. Unfortunately, this attention, in many cases, strokes the ego of some of our people. If they were truly qualified o teach (in most cases, they are not) that would be one thing, but you can't gain wisdom on a weekend excursion to the mountains or out of a book. Real 'Medicine People' don't refer to themselves as such because they know it takes years, a lifetime in fact, to maybe gain the knowledge.

There are many people in these United States who are seeking. We are all searching for our roots. Those who don't know who they are, are hungry. Instead of learning who they are, they take, and it's not right! Because they have money and connections they do so. They believe that if they don't have something, then they can go out and buy it. Their exploitation of Indian ways is wasteful because it distracts. It takes the focus away from global cooperation and concentrates on the arrogance of self-fulfillment.

These people don't give a shit that Indian peoples are dying for their lands throughout the United States and the Americas. All they want is to have their feathers, drums, gords and rattles so that they can commune with each other in peace and harmony; a luxury only affordable if you are a white European American. In the absence of spirituality, like their ancestors before them, who raped, pillaged and outright stole the land and attempted to destroy Indigenous culture and history-they themselves are on the same path, laid down to them 500 years ago by their European ancestors.

Wake up New Agers, the real world does not run on peace, love and granola- it's more like beans and tortilla, if you're lucky. Indian spirituality is not for sale. White man has conquered the land, (but not the people) tried to destroy the Native culture, language and traditions of the people. But, the one thing white man cannot have is the souls of the people. If we are to preserve our ceremonies and keep them pure, then we must speak up. Without the purity of our rituals and spiritual practices, then I am afraid that we will have to go underground.

Kandis Kozolanka, Bodega: "The cultural survival of Indigenous people and their societies will require the rest of us to think in different ways about living with our fellow humans. This would mean listening to our native brothers and sisters-not the ones that have chosen the white mans ways of consumerism-but the ones that can see that there won't be anything to pass on to their children if their ways get incorporated or synthesized into white man's culture. We need to look at the bigger picture here. There is nothing wrong with making money by setting up a church or a circle for your own religion, that is the traditional European way. Everyone has the right to worship in whatever way they feel comfortable. As a woman, I have been robbed of my connection with the earth by the patriarchy, who took my tradition of healing and goddess worship and all memory of the feminine as a powerful force and synthesized it into a distorted religion that does nothing but control the mases and serves the "innovators" i.e. appropriators of my tradition. It's galling to have to witness these contorted ceremonies and forced holidays over and over. My legacy has been lost to me and to the children for hundreds of years and we are still trying to separate the lies and the distortions from that incorporation back to the truth and to the inheritance of our lineage. This is oppression and white people in search of truth are in danger of repeating that history and perpetuating the racism in this country.

We have been invited over and over again to join hands with the native people, but instead of giving up any power, we form our own circles with the same hierarchies and ask them to join us. If we have our way and they join our circle, they will be combined with our culture and will have nothing left of their's to pass down to their children. An annihilation of a race will have occurred.

Their belief in equality for all living beings and their high respect for the natural world is certainly something to emulate. It's no wonder that we admire these people and want to incorporate their teachings into our culture. We do not have to look like our native brothers and siters or have everything that they have to feel like we belong here. If we want to mirror the teaching of the native people, we can do that by getting to know the rivers, mountains and animals that live near us, and to start treating each living being with respect, no matter what race or gender or belief system. If we want to honor the teachings of these people, how about borrowing the idea of respect. Respect for their right to survive as a separate nation, with their own untampered culture to be passed on for the continuance of their race.

For equality of all people we will have to listen to an Indigenous nation and their outrage at the abuse of their sacred symbols and ceremonies for profit. A handful of native people have chosen the white man's path of consumerism and this does not make it all right for any other people to do the same. This small minority does NOT speak for all Indian people and this problem will be solved within their own nation and has nothing to do with white man's politics other than needing their support to stop the promotion of this kind of genocide."

Deidre Martin, Occidental: "Groovy, intuned, drumming away--the demons are in you--stop selling fabricated lies--or even genuine arrows from l855--your spiritual awakening can not be bought or sold--stolen just the same as Columbus did invade and kill--it's called genocide--most horrid when denied by you who claim knowledge of their way--only action can enliven--your soul is crying for change."

Sudie Llaneza, Santa Rosa: Respecting a different culture means you must give it the space to be itself. When sacred portions of a culture are immitated and sold for profit, an acto of spiritual genocide has taken place. This is not respect. When the Indians speak out about this issue, they are ignored or told they are rude and selfish. This is not respect. A glance back through his/story will reveal that their spirituality is one of the few cultural expressions the indigenous people still possess. White privilege has reigned too long!

Edna Seidner, Shlen-chua (Wild Pony), "Bear River and Weott Tribe": As an Elder from Bear River and Weott tribe these words are not written in anger or jealousy, for we are not taught to be filled with hate. I have witnessed many acts of this kind born of racism here in this county. One, for example, was a day on the green where we were invited to give input about our ceremonies and the misuse of the rituals. I was amazed at the violent outburst from these people and then later we were described as rude, angry and violent-a tiny group of Indians disrupting the day, but it isn't just us. This situation is spreading thru the tribes from Canada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Oklahoma, the Dakotas.

For, I have always believed what my elders taught me, that when one is born to a natural birth mother, their lives are forever connected to that birth mother no matter what race it is and their roots should be formed from that time. Why five hundred years later they are trying to transplant their roots to become another nationality and form imitation tribes and doing fantasy quests into a world they can never be a part of? Those that form these groups have a violent and racist attitude against the people they are imitating. These lost people will in the end exist on this planet as clones following a fantasy path in a hopeless search for their roots or spirit, and in the end only to find it was there with them when they were born. This is sad and bebause we are asking them to understand that as elders we have had to earn all of the things they are paying for (without thought of trodding on another's way of life, that was handed down from generations to generations). There can be no fair explanation on their part for this last act of genocide.

Tome Roubideaux, "Sicangu/Assimiboine", Santa Rosa: "The difference between Indigenous peoples and Western man will always be this: We deal with spirtuality and philosophy and white man deals with theology and technology. We see ourselves as part of the earth and white man sees themselves apart from the earth. If they don't recognize or come to appreciate or incorporate Native data bases, then they fabricate knowledge that is marketable and are able to coopt Indigenous people to exchange their medicine bundles into marketing bundles, thus, substanciating a demand of thirsting dis-spirited people. Spiritual genocide is more like spiritual rape. The development of Western European culture has progressed to its highest state of being, and is suffereing from entrophy and needs to develop an appropriate form of philosophy, spirituality and understanding to benefit humankind and all living things. Toka ole miyeca, sicangu Koskzla miyelo. Hatchetu!"

Anita Poree, Sonoma: "Spiritual genocide as it is directed toward People of Color in america, is racism at it's finest, insidous, deadly. Spiritual Genocide is top-of-the-line racism. "Thee" ultimate piece culminating in the complete killing of the Spirit manifestation of a people. Lately there has been a lot of defensive bellowing from new age evangelical crusaders/seekers about "who owns spirit?" The "who owns spirit?" hue and cry clearly is a spirit that does not belong to those that practice disrespect toward, or that profiteer from spiritual ritual/concept that is held in sacred regard by People of Color. In America, African and Asian descended people are continually being backhanded spiritually and the Indians indigenous to this land are continually shamed by Euro-American "seekers" NOT listening to and NOT heeding their requests for a slow down or, in some cases, cease and desist of sacrilegous useage of "spirit" practices.

In focusing on the Indian people of the Americas, it must be noted that they are absolute experts on the wide range of ways and means white Euro-Americans deploy and/or are agents of maintaining racist tactics/behaviour, whether knowingly or not. When People of Color say they are being "ripped off", white Euro-Americans need to seriously pay close attention, STOP and place their racist ignorance on hold, at least long enough for self review and re-evaluation. Instead there seems to be a consistent knee jerk reaction to defend their new age questing by trying to discredit or invalidate the expertise of the Indian perspective. IT AIN'T GONNA WORK ANYMORE!!!! The plagiarism and irresponsible modifying of Indigenous spirit practices to accommodate the wounded, deprived, starved soul of searching whites, is NOT ACCEPTABLE. The out of context quoting of other People of Color to substantiate or justify this new age "borrowing" of Indigenous spirit practices, smacks of the same good ol' boy, white patriarchal power play we've all come to deplore. A new element that has entered the scene, that is sadder yet, is the white matriarchal self righteousness of 'we're victims too', that allows for the same kind of divide and conquer routine. Divisiveness, backlash and discrediting seem to be tools for trying to gain control over the successful marketing of "spirit", be it for the soul, the art, the environmentalist movement or whatever well-intentioned stance. Often times it is hard to separate the cause from the fad. Indeed white truth/experience is not the definitive, universal truth/experience. It is no longer tolerable that the Euro-American acculturing gets to take what it wants and leaves us with what it thinks we should have. From the perspective of this Creole Choctaw, it is just another very tired form of racism with a new age face on it.

I hear so many white Euro-Americans slaim that they don't know their spiritual roots, their heritage. Yet, these same truly good people don't seem to be doing their homework by resurrecting or studying the beauty of European paganism. Sharing customs, rituals, ceremonies is inevitable in a pluralistic society. The key concept here is SHARING, not the inviscriminate co-opting of spirit practices from Indians of the Americas by whites. There is no outside-the-self, quick fix journey to the essence of the Self, no ceremony or drum that guarantees spiritually.

We must all come to the Circle of Hope whole, clean, honest, courageous and autonomous. We all have empowerment to ensure our place in the circle, there is no need to compromise or negate the gifts others bring in order to enhance a contribution. In the Circle of Hope there are no insignificant gifts, even if Euro-Americans aren't sure of their roots. When we People of Color take a stand and not allow ourselves to be picked through like so many apples and oranges, we become threatening to the fragile sensibilities of whites and their unnecessary defensiveness and protectiveness of white priviledge/rights causes us much anguish. As for me, I just don't want white Euro-Americans bringing Our gifts to the circle and claiming in loud debate and reproof, that these cosmetically readjusted, tokenized gifts are theirs. It's the final insulting pain, dishonor, death."

Robert Schleifer, Occidental: "My thoughts about spiritual genocide are ever evolving and becoming more informed daily. The fight for spiritual integrity is not unrelated to other struggles for community and cultural and geopolitical sovereignty. I am an assimilated Jew, who, after years of cultural denial, disenchantment and ignorance, has only recently decided to explore my own spiritual and cultural heritage. I feel a growing affinity for my own long ignored metaphysical roots, a heritage that often defines spiritual genocide that dates back to the Pharohs of Egypt, the Inquisition and Nazism. When one speaks about spiritual genocide these days, it usually refers to that of Indigenous cultures, una gente en dios (indians)-struggling to hold on to their treaty rights, their land, their economic/social/political/spiritual traditions. As one who now is curious to begin the process of tracing my own heritage, I also strongly identify with and am willing to struggle for the cultural and spiritual integrity of my Mother-Earth-worshiping brothers and sisters. And, beyond any dogma, I know that I am free to pursue and invent spirit independent of heritage. For example, my understanding is that the Hebrew religion is male-centric, yet my current perspective informs me that there is nothing not born of women, so I accept, embrace, and honor Mother, In teter-toter balance with Father in how I walk and talk. And then there also is the genderless Great Void. Hebrews and Indians tend not to evangelize and recruit practitioners outside their cultural and spiritual traditions, nor do they tend to sell spirit. I have experienced, though, that each welcomes anyone who comes in sincerity, respect and generosity of spirit. Each has resisted cultural and spiritual genocide and struggles to protect it's sacred teachings, ceremonies, rituals, burial sites and religious artifacts. Yet, while it is imperative to hold on to and to reclaim ones spiritual and cultural integrity, enlightened self-interest might also dictate that we share and/or forge new metaphors of spirit that transcends cultural ownership."

Sunnoutri, Santa Rosa: "The spiritual genocide that started 500 years ago in the Americas is a contination of a process that began 5,000 years ago with the forced acceptance of dominance as an OK thing, so that it was alright then for the male dominant societies to wipe out anything threatening, lke matriarchal equalitarian societies, and it was alright 500 years ago for the patriarchal Christian religion to decide that what they found in the Americas, often matriarchal spiritualities, was offensive and had to be eradicated and it is STILL an accepted way of acting. Anything that hints at being in harmony, considerate of nature and humanity, and with the balance in nature that includes both sexes as being equally important and capable, is attacked. In the last 500 years, so many of the native communities have been invaded, divided, forcefully taught that the spiritual beliefs of the sacredness of balance, that had been with their people since the beginning of time, were WRONG.

There has been a systematic brain-washing of the Indigenous peoples, but luckily, not all of it was successful. Now, at the 500 year mark of this attempt to make these people disappear, the native Americans are regrouping and demanding their identity back. It is our duty as fellow human beings to help them. That help has to be in a non-intrusive way that allows THEM to organize and reclaim their spirituality, their language, and establish an economic plan that answers as an alternative to the resources of their lands, which have been mostly stolen already, and also allows them to form an alliance with ALL oppressed people."

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