cultural politics

cultural politics

Shane Jensen (guest) 13 Jan 2011 21:21

Thanks to those who responded to my copyright query. I now have another question re the Barbara Hand Clow bio. Hand Clow describes herself as an indigenous person (her grandfather was part Cherokee). In Australia, many people with one-eighth indigenous heritage call themselves indigenous and are welcomed by some indigenous people, even though they live & look outwardly like whites. These days, more people than ever before are born into a mixture of cultural/spiritual heritages. Does 2012hoax.org believe they should have to align with one or another, regardless of mixed influences within their genes & environment? Because the inclusion of a quote from ‘New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans’ in Hand Clow’s bio seems intended to imply that all spiritual practitioners who aren’t purists are frauds. Is that what’s meant by it?

Re: cultural politics

obaeyens 13 Jan 2011 21:37

It depends.
I know a lot of white New agers wearing Indian stuff and Buddhist stuff claiming to live a Buddhist life but in reality it comes nowhere near the real Buddhism/Indian reality. They somehow mix different world religions together and think it is indigenous. I know some people going to India to live the life like Indians do. But only for a week or 2. I think the real indigenous lifestyle gets polluted this way.

Re: cultural politics

obaeyens 13 Jan 2011 21:42

Lets put it in another way. I think that people like Barbara Hand Clow actually damages the indigenous people way of life by poluting it.

Re: cultural politics

Astrogeek 13 Jan 2011 22:32

No, of course not.

I don't care if Clow is indigenous, or partially indigenous, or as white as the driven snow. I care about her claims.

The inclusion of the quote from nafps challenges the non-native manner in which she delivers her "teachings" and contrasts it to the traditional native methods. It is significant because she is a self-styled "indigenous shaman". Without her inclusion of that claim, I doubt we would have included it.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: cultural politics

snorks 19 Jan 2011 17:53

She uses that ancestory which may be in question, since she does not state what group he belonged to, as form of authority. That she was chosen to be the Record Keeper of the Cherokee. Which group - the Eastern Band, Kewotah, or Cherokee Nation… it does matter if you say you are recognised as this and then use that authority to promote what your ideas are and say that this authority makes them true.

You misunderstood the usage. Her heritage is not the problem, it is the appeal to authority that is the problem.