NativeBS says it VERY well.
That’s all there is to it. Not new-age wannabe fake-Indian hoo-hah “medicine,” not corny nonsense with a Lakota word or two as a garnish, no well-paid shamans and psychics and mediums as spiritual tour guides. There’s the land, here are you, and now shut up and go love the land. I’m Indian, but let me say it: that doesn’t matter. Land, God, and spirituality have no preference for someone’s race, hair, or skin. There’s nothing magical about us that makes the stuff we say about God and Creation any more profound, deep, essential, or useful than if anyone else said the same things. There’s no need to “Indianize” something to add the patina of wisdom to it. I’m tribally enrolled and I have my CDIB card and I participate in our ancient ways, and I know that there are non-Native people who would LOVE to have that stuff because they think it would legitimize their heartfelt stirrings for land, ceremony, and spirituality.
But it wouldn’t.
The more complex mysticism you drape over spirituality, the further a real spiritual experience becomes, not closer. Turning spirituality into the ritual arrangement of objects, Indian catchphrases, “totem animal spirits,” rocks with special powers, and highly-paid gurus doesn’t bring us any closer to Creation, it cheapens it. That’s the trap.
Thank you, Matt. Your post is enlightening. I hope people like myself, who have broken away from nuage frauds and plastic shamans, will better understand what happened to them. As a former follower of Phillip Scott, I was blinded to these things. I hoped that by joining the group, I would be able to go deeper into spirituality and nature. Instead, with the rigid formality of ceremonies and rules, it just got farther away. I felt like I had spent my life doing things wrong. But it wasn't my culture. Your son is very perceptive.
There's a scene in the film "Annie Hall" where Alvie (a Jew) returns home from the store with some items he thinks will help him with his relationship with Annie Hall, his new Catholic girl friend. From a shopping bag, he removes, among other things, a large crucifix. This is like buying crystals, or dream catchers, or other things to make our spiritual practices Native American.
