Somehow that which "belongs" to the Native American peoples (although the
very notion of possession is unfortunately somewhat imposed upon the nature
of what we are discussing) has historically been seen as an exploitable
good for the profit of those who exploit.
I have no argument that absolute truth is impossible to formulate in a
rational-logical-linguistic manner. However, to allow a situation to pro-
ceed unchecked merely because it deals with persons' personal journeys
toward that truth IN THIS ARENA also allows us to distort the traditions
until they become cheap popular culture. Luckily, that would probably
make it a fad and something with a brief life span. However, when these
spiritual practices often require visits to the sacred sites of native
individuals and marketing and display of sacred materials in ways that
are painful and disrespectful to native peoples, I have to wonder if
"truth" is really being served. By saying that all can potentially lead
to the discovery of "truth" is like the complacent, "in everything God
works for good" that immobilizes persons and provides a smug self-justifi-
cation for not getting involved and correcting hurtful situations.
Much like the reincarnationist belief that all people chose their present
life...therefore why interfere? Such extreme positioning sparks moral
paralysis as far as I am concerned. Yes, all we know today, all we are
today is the product of all we have known and all we have done in the past
...but it does not mean that all that happened was "okay."
A post-note--I have never seen someone who had a sincere heart and a non-
capitalist attitude toward their practice of native spirituality criticized
by the spiritual leaders I have known...