"We’ve been dehumanizing these people for centuries, when the fact is that they are more human than any of us."
Out of jealousy and admiration for their survival skills and resourcefulness? Or just for the regular racist and religious motivations we always dehumanize people by?
I mean, yes? Let's go with yes, all of it, yes. It's part of the story of the colonizer, this combination of alienation and hatred with avarice for the culture and resources of the group, every time. Just look at the British Museum.
One little thing at a time, I guess. If you've got to live under the settler government, participating in it is one small way to get a little bit back.
Have you seen the Haka in the New Zealand parliament??
Last year I read "The WEIRDest People in the World," which is about the WEIRD problem in psychology and, more centrally to this book, how we (Europeans) got that way. Which could also be framed as "What happened to us?" I continue to find it one of the most important books I've ever read, even as I feel incredibly ambivalent about the answers. If you have a chance to read it, or even just one of the summaries available online, I'd love to know if you see what I do in the juxtaposition of this book's questions and what you've learned about Indigenous cultures.
Oh, and while I'm recommending books, I think you'd find a lot to think about in The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer's new book about rethinking our economic activity through a Native American lens.
Thank you! I've heard of The Serviceberry, though I haven't even gotten around to Braiding Sweetgrass yet, as I feel like there's some controversy around Kimmerer's credentials? Anyway. I hadn't heard of that first book, though, and it sounds right up my alley. I love the question "what happened to us?" I think about it all the time.
My sense is that the controversy is less about Kimmerer herself, and more about her popularity, compared with non-assimilated Indigenous writers. Braiding Sweetgrass is a beautiful book and I say that as someone who finds her "rural is better" stance hard to stomach. The Serviceberry is shorter and simpler, but very relevant to our times and some of your questions.
"We’ve been dehumanizing these people for centuries, when the fact is that they are more human than any of us."
Out of jealousy and admiration for their survival skills and resourcefulness? Or just for the regular racist and religious motivations we always dehumanize people by?
I mean, yes? Let's go with yes, all of it, yes. It's part of the story of the colonizer, this combination of alienation and hatred with avarice for the culture and resources of the group, every time. Just look at the British Museum.
The current Premier of the Canadian province I live in is an Indigenous man, so they are making progress politically, at least.
One little thing at a time, I guess. If you've got to live under the settler government, participating in it is one small way to get a little bit back.
Have you seen the Haka in the New Zealand parliament??
Yes. And I'm so waiting for the Pow Wow at Congress.
Last year I read "The WEIRDest People in the World," which is about the WEIRD problem in psychology and, more centrally to this book, how we (Europeans) got that way. Which could also be framed as "What happened to us?" I continue to find it one of the most important books I've ever read, even as I feel incredibly ambivalent about the answers. If you have a chance to read it, or even just one of the summaries available online, I'd love to know if you see what I do in the juxtaposition of this book's questions and what you've learned about Indigenous cultures.
Oh, and while I'm recommending books, I think you'd find a lot to think about in The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer's new book about rethinking our economic activity through a Native American lens.
Thank you! I've heard of The Serviceberry, though I haven't even gotten around to Braiding Sweetgrass yet, as I feel like there's some controversy around Kimmerer's credentials? Anyway. I hadn't heard of that first book, though, and it sounds right up my alley. I love the question "what happened to us?" I think about it all the time.
My sense is that the controversy is less about Kimmerer herself, and more about her popularity, compared with non-assimilated Indigenous writers. Braiding Sweetgrass is a beautiful book and I say that as someone who finds her "rural is better" stance hard to stomach. The Serviceberry is shorter and simpler, but very relevant to our times and some of your questions.