> Original-Sender: benenson@cfrvm.bitnet (Jim Benenson)
>
> I joined this list about a month ago because I believed it to be a forum
> about Native Americans, a subject I have recently become interested in.
> Although there is some information about legal difficulties for native
> peoples around the world, there is a lot of anger and crying about this
> bit of knowledge or that fraudulent author or the other craftsperson.
> You people had better stop kidding yourselves that you have gained
> anything from the red road.
I sent a note back to Jim saying that I had decided not to relay the article
since I felt the complaint he was making was not specific enough to make it
clear just what he was objecting to, and I felt there was a certain sarcastic
tone, which I have found tends to provoke a kind of discussion that leaves
many of us feeling that not much of value has come out in that discussion.
Jim replied in his message to me:
> I am not being sarcastic. There is a lot of anger on this list, most of
> it by self-righteous Europeans, presumably "protecting" Native Americans.
> It's the same old BS, and has nothing to do with what little I have learned
> about native thought. Read Nancy's note about the anger re craftspeople.
> There is little constructive dialog and => no <= spirit of gentleness.
>
> ... [ comment on a completely different subject deleted] ...
>
> Are you going to censor criticism of this list? Should I be more specific,
> i.e., name names like everyone else is doing? I think my comments deserve
> posting as they are written.
This explanation helps me, at least, understand Jim's point of view better,
which is not to say that I share it, necessarily, since he hasn't told me just
exactly who is the target of his complaint, or what he feels constructive
dialogue to entail and/or what he has learned about native thought or about
how he views "the red road."
There may be those who feel I acted unfairly in not just passing on Jim's
article initially. I submit myself to your judgement (but reserve the right
to speak in my own defense, if need be). I very rarely decline to relay an
article, but have done so a couple of times when I feel that a particular
article makes an unfair attack, or violates some common norm of "good taste"
or when I feel that a given discussion has really run its course and we're
just "going 'round in circles." I see the task of a moderator for this kind
of list to involve developing and maintaining some sense of what most people
want, as is conveyed in comments they make to me privately or in the context
of their articles.
Without necessarily saying what you feel about Jim's article, either in
its form or its content, if you would like to pass on to me on your sense
of my task and how well I have carried it out and how you feel you would
like me to handle these kinds of matters, I'd really appreciate your help.
As to the content of Jim's article, my original feeling, as I explained to
him, was that it was unclear to me as a reader just who was the target of
his criticism or exactly what it was he was saying - but it had and still
has a tone of abruptness and hostility that disturb me. It may be that
what he is trying to say is that he prefers articles which talk about
specific issues to those which express doubts about the authenticity of
particular people who represent themselves as Native people and who claim
in whatever sense to speak on behalf of those people, or at least permit
such an inference, and about their negative feelings about what may feel
like an expropriation or unfair exploitation of a culture. Apparently,
there is something about what is said or the way it is said that makes Jim
feel that such sentiments are inconsistent with a genuine knowledge of
the real needs and feelings of indigenous peoples, but he doesn't say (at
least not according to my reading of this article) what he believes those
needs and feelings to be.
For my own part, I tend to think that the discussion we've been having
lately is valuable and important, in that it helps us to look at the
element of tension between the traditional methods of academic inquiry
and the feelings of at least some contemporary indigenous people, and it
permits us to get a better understanding of the various forms of possible
abuse of popular interest in Native peoples and cultures.
Comments?
--
Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst