Hippies coming to drum

[Mahekun]

I'm part of a native women's hand drum group. We are an educational group whose aim is to carry on traditional songs and teach both native and non-native people about the songs, the meanings behind them, and to build relationships with other cultures, as well as preventing the continued loss of our languages. Our songs are exclusively in a variety of the first languages spoken on Turtle Island. This includes Ojibwe, Mohawk, Cree, and Miq'maq.

Recently a couple white women have joined the group who are clearly astrology and crystal loving hippies. We're supposed to be accepting and all-inclusive, so I can't say anything to the elder who facilitates the group because I fear she'll tell me I'm being judgemental, which I may well be. I'm just afraid because they don't seem to be too interested in learning our songs, but bringing their own English-language woo-woo songs to try to teach us. One of them sang some earth mother/sacred chakra/green man tripe last week and it was frankly embarrassing. I am also afraid that other indigenous people in the community will see these women in the group and think we've all turned into frauds.

Not sure what to do, or just wait and see if they'll lose interest in us. Just ranting for now I guess.

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

Well, for what it's worth, my thought is that if your group is supposed to be representing native cultures with songs from those cultures and those languages, then they are not the right fit. You could perhaps, just mention to them that the group is about native songs, and not the kinds of songs they are doing, and that since it's for educational purposes, their songs are ill fitted to the groups purpose, which is to teach native songs to people, and their songs are not native.

Hope it all works out quickly..

[Mahekun]

My sentiments exactly. The difficulty is that we're not supposed to turn people away. We have had some other white women join in the past, but they have been very respectful and haven't "taken the culture and run with it" so to speak. I only hope that the elder will handle any outstepping of boundaries.

[MattOKC]

Boozhoo!

In cases like this, I personally think it's appropriate to reiterate that they are welcome, but to politely and firmly establish that these drums are actually consecrated in very specific ways to certain traditional purposes, and that out of respect for those responsibilities you have to ask that they only perform songs in ways that are consistent with those traditions. For example, you could say "there's absolutely nothing wrong with those other beliefs you have, but they should be reserved for their own setting too. This drum is only meant to make songs that are traditional to our tribe, and the new-age astrology, chakra, crystal stuff is considered an intrusive element to those traditions."

I've found that some new-agers are actually surprised to learn that their ways are intrusive, since they've been brainwashed to think that Indian spiritual actually IS all about energy vortexes, crystals, astral stuff, etc. When they are finally told otherwise, it might even be a moment of liberation from some of those delusions.

But to stress the point, those drums are sacred items. In the hierarchy of important things, it actually matters more to protect them, spiritually, than to just be polite for politeness' sake. Being welcoming is a worthy virtue, but it comes beneath being a steward of the things your grandparents gave their lives to protect for you. So in context, I hope that helps address the conflicted feelings you might have.