On Cultural Appropriation

I have spent a lifetime exploring deeper reality, deeper meaning, deeper being. Towards that end, I traveled around the world seeking out spiritual elders and Indigenous medicine people who still practiced the traditional, life-honoring ways passed on to them by their ancestors. Above, I am on pilgrimage with the Huichol people with whom I completed a 13-year apprenticeship culminating in my being named a Mara'akame (shaman), a term I still use with humility, respect, and great reverence and gratitude.

From my Indigenous teachers and mentors, I learned that right-relationship means that taking without giving back in equal measure is cultural theft, appropriation, and a continuation of colonialist exploitation. What is called for in giving back has to do with developing an ally relationship in which there is mutual respect and exchange. This entails understanding how the ideology of colonialist, white supremacy results in discriminatory, racist policies that are embedded in social, educational, economic, and health institutions that privilege Caucasians and oppress people of color.

I was taught about sacred reciprocity, how to give before taking. I learned to meaningfully help address issues of concern, which have included a range of offerings from being willing to make a commitment to apprenticeship for a set number of years, to bringing food, clothing, medical supplies, and financial support; to chopping wood and anything else I could to do help prepare for ceremonies. Over the 60+ years I have been doing this work, I was called to learn about, and get involved with, programs addressing treaty violation, sovereignty, and social justice issues. I learned not to use certain words and ceremonial tools until I had been granted the right to do so; I learned that I needed to support demonstrations for justice however I could. Sometimes the contribution was transporting Elders to and from ceremonies, to stores, to medical appointments, or to banks to help with financial matters. Sometimes it was helping to raise funds for whatever was most needed by the people.

The point is to create a respectful ally relationship where there is a balance between giving and taking, the exact opposite of how Eurocentric culturally-conditioned Caucasians have typically interacted with Native People, starting with violently taking their lives and their land and displacing them to reservations (usually on the worst land around), as well as taking aspects of their spirituality and culture for personal benefit without giving anything back in exchange.

GIVING BACK

What I am able to share with you is because of the sharing and passing on of knowledge that was shared with me. Please consider supporting:

• the Huichols of the Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico, who played a critical role in my spiritual journey. The Huichol are a small tribe of approximately 35,000 living in central western Mexico near Ixtlan in the Sierra Madre Mountains. They are said to be the last tribe in North America to have maintained their pre-Columbian traditions. Huichol mara’akame (shamans) and healers practice today as they have for generations. Please help them build a water well to meet basic survival needs, and live out the dream of my “grandmother” Guadalupe de la Cruz, a visionary matriarch who hoped to create a vibrant community space where people could gather, where her family could carry on the rich traditions of the Wixarika people, and where ceremonies could be held to honor their heritage.

• and/or the Noke Kôi of the Peruvian Amazon, with whom I have recently been blessed to connect. Unlike many other tribes that were influenced by the "Yaras" (White people), the Noke Koi still preserve their traditional ways and only a few speak Portuguese – their native tongue is Nokevana and it is spoken by everyone in the tribe. They work with different plant medicines and are widely known as the original people of Kambô, which is used for healing various illnesses among their people.

With deepest gratitude for all of the Indigenous peoples who have been, and those who still are, carriers of wisdom teachings, reminding us of European descent how to be in right relationship with and as part of Nature; how to live in balance, as part of an interconnected one; whose cultural heritage and deep connection to and with Nature have inspired and enlightened me in countless ways; and whose sharing I committed to carrying on and strive to uphold every day.

Truth Poem from Retreat

stole

land

killed

scalped

infected

blankets w/ smallpox

deliberately

destroying

cultures

ten thousands

years

old

People who loved

their children

honored their Elders

Killed by lance of

avarice

greed

minds

honoring

gold

forsaking

soul

much lost

people endured

survived

carried forward

ways of the land

passed on

through generations

making

a stand

listen

stories

songs

struggling

to be heard

open

heart

humble

mind

listen

hear

ocean roar

birds soar

people

remember

follow

teaching way

Great

Sacred

Tree

land

to

heal

voice

to hear

those

who

remember

how

to

be.

With great gratitude to my teachers and mentors, many of whom became what Mits Aioki and Aunty Fay taught me to call my Calabash Family…

• Arvol Looking Horse, J.C. Eaglesmith, and Archie Fire Lame Deer, Lakota Pipe holders 

• Philip Deere, Muscogee medicine man

• Twylah Nitsch and Wolf Clan Mother, Seneca

• Doña Julieta, Mazateca curandera

• Thomas Banyacya and Grandfather David Monongaye, Hopi elders

• Babe Wilson, Pit River/Shasta

• Charlie Thom, Karuk

• Lanny Pinola, Irene Pinola, and Bun Lucas, Pomo-Miwok

• Mits Aioki and Aunty Fay, Hawaiian

• Anank, Bolivar, and Agustino, Ayahuascaros

• Peter Blue Cloud, Mohawk

• Rolling Thunder, Métis Cherokee

• Spotted Fawn, Shoshoni

• Bright Rope, Métis Apache

• Yogi Bhajan, Swami Satchitananda, and Eknath Easwaran, AC. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Hindu

• Richard Deer Track and Bob Boyll, Native American Indian Church

• Eduardo Calderon, Peruvian

• Guadalupe de la Cruz, Tacho, Andrea, José Carillo, Presciliano, Ramaldo, Pedro, Maria, Laura, Jose, Paula, Eberta, Domingo, Manuela, and Don Jose Matchua, Huichol

Thank you also to the following Indigenous elders who not only shared their teachings and ceremonies with me, but also with my daughters Kimberly Danek Pinkson and Nicole Pinkson MacNaughton:

• Rolling Thunder, Métis Cherokee

• Oh Shinnah Fastwolf, Métis Apache

• Lanny Pinola, Irene Pinola, and Bun Lucas, Pomo-Miwok

• Guadalupe de la Cruz, Huichol

• Doña Julieta, Mazateca curandera

With deep respect for the Elders, the wisdom keepers of times past, and today, I acknowledge gratefully and humbly that I live and work on the unceded territory of the Chumash people, who have stewarded this land for generations. I honor their rich cultural heritage, deep connection to the land, and their ongoing contributions to this region. I recognize the continued resilience of the Chumash people and commit to supporting Indigenous sovereignty and rights. Please join me.