Pagan Views on Appropriation

The Wild Hunt is a blog that has "news, opinions, and events dealing with (or of interest to) the modern Pagan and Heathen communities". A recent article called "The Danger of 'Wannabes'" spoke to the appropriation challenges faced by Native Americans cultures. The focus of the article was on "New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans". I had some interesting reactions to the article ranging from agreement to confused indignation. A blogger on the shamans_circle community asked, "Anyone here have any experience with these sorts of hucksters?"

As I've said before, appropriation is a BIG issue. My remarks below are not meant to downplay the challenges faced by indigenous peoples. With that said, this is how my buttons got pushed...

( My feelings about knowing hucksters... )

Another person commented, "If you go around saying you are a Roman Catholic priest even though you never went past seminary, maybe that's a bit un-ethical because you are lying to people". This got me thinking. I responded:

( Roman Catholic analogy continued... )

This was all interesting food for thought that I am sure will be the basis of future blogs here.